Deadly Clash Between Rebel Groups Leaves 15 Dead in Somalia
Somali Terror Group Al-Shabaab
Fighting between Al-Shabab militias and their one-time allies from Hizbul Islam erupted early on Monday at Hagar Village in Lower Jubba region southern Somalia. At least 15 people have been killed and an unknown number including civilians injured in heavy clashes between rival Islamist rebel groups vying for control of the southern Somali port of Kismayu.
Most of the dead people were from the fighting militias; and the wounded people were carried for treatment to the hospitals at Kismayu and Afmadow districts in the same region. Mohamed Ali, a resident in Hagar Village told Newstime Africa on the phone “fighting between the two militias broke out early on Monday morning. I have seen 6 people lying on the ground dead including militias.
Mohamed added that most of the civilians fled from the village but later some of the came back to their houses. The spokesman of the Al-Shabab authority in Lower Jubba region Sheikh Hassan Yaqub said “ONLF and other militias attacked our base in Hagar village” Hagar village in north Kismayu. Ahmed Madobe, the Hizbul Islam officer who was a former Somali Member of Parliament denied that ONLF were part of the fighting.
Relations between Al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam collapsed late September after Al-Shabab named its own council to run Kismayu excluding all Hizbul members; and fighting between them erupted early October.
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