09 Aug 2009
At least seventeen people have been killed and over thirty others injured in clashes between two regional clans- both involved in piracy- over tribal rivalry.

A fierce gun battle erupted on Saturday night in the lawless state on the Horn of Africa in which tribesmen from two adversary clans engaged in a full-blown conflict over the rape of a girl and land disputes.

The two clans, located in the eastern coastal region of Haradheere, have reportedly stepped up their hostilities that have caused a throng of local residents to flee the area.

Each tribe frequently launches pirate attacks on foreign ocean-liners from remote areas around the town of Haradheere demanding increasing ransoms from international shipping operators.

Somalia has become the quagmire for piracy and other criminal acts ever since the country's former dictatorial regime was toppled in 1991 highlighting the failure of interim governments.

A projected 17,000 Somalis have been killed and an estimated 250,000 others have been internally displaced over the past two years alone in the ongoing civil war that has crippled the poverty-stricken nation.

The country is mainly controlled by anti-government al Shabaab rebels who have been targeting international and national peace-keeping forces in order to obtain more leverage in negotiations with foreign governments.

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