At least 21 killed in Somali inter-clan war Agence France Presse English Wire , Saturday , February 5, 2000 , 13:57 GMT

MOGADISHU, Feb 5 (AFP) -- At least 21 people were killed and 40 wounded in clan fighting over territory in Somalia's southern Lower Shabelle region, an Islamic court official said on Saturday. Sheikh Musa Abdullahi Ali, who was at the scene of the battle, said the fighting erupted Friday between the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA) on one side and militiamen of the Habr Gedir sub-clan and the Islamic court on the other. The battle continued Saturday, he said. The Mogadishu newspaper Ayaamha reported Saturday that the fighting, which continued throughout the night, involved some 30 battle wagons -- pickup trucks which carry heavy weapons. Reports from the scene said the Habr Gedir gunmen were initially forced to pull out of the area of the fighting in Kurtunwarey district before reinforcements from the Islamic court arrived Friday to help them. "Around midnight, the RRA were forced out of the area they had occupied after heavy militia loses," Ali said. Ali admitted, however, that his side had also lost gunmen in the battle to end the RRA "occupation" of the area. The casualty figure, which is believed to include civilians, could not be independently verified. An RRA official, who declined to be named, said from the south-central town of Baidoa that his men would continue fighting until they captured all their "traditional land seized by by the Habr Gedir." The Rahanwein clans claim Afgoi town, 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Mogadishu, astheir border with the major Hawiye clan, which dominates the capital. The Habr Gedir are a sub-clan of the Hawiye.