Somali clashes kill 21 as moderate group issues demands

MOGADISHU, Thursday

At least 21 people were killed and 42 wounded in fighting in Somalia, a human rights group said on Thursday as Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea, a moderate Islamist group criticised the government for the second time for failing to honour an agreement signed between the two sides.

Fighting between clans left 14 people dead and 24 injured in the village of Huldonyale in central Somalia, the Mogadishu-based Elman rights group said.

Government troops alongside African Union peacekeepers exchanged shells in Mogadishu with al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, who are waging an Islamist insurgency against the Western-backed government. Seven people were killed and 18 wounded.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh Hassan of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea said today that the TFG fell short of complying with an accord reached in Addis Ababa on March 15.

The clergyman who leads a movement with a strong base in the central regions of Somalia stated that his group advised the government on how to meet the terms of the accord.

He reiterated that failure on the part of the government brought down the trust of Ahlu Sunna wal-Jamea on the TFG.