Nearly 30 people have been killed and 20 others injured in fierce clashes which broke out between rival clans on Saturday in central Somali province of Galgadud for over grazing and water rights, elders and a local official said on Sunday.

"The collision between the clan militia led to the unfortunate death of nearly 30 people including combatants and civilians and more than 20 got injured," Mohamed Kafi, local official, told Xinhua by phone from central Somali town of Dusamareb on Sunday evening.

"Local elders are mediating between the warring Saleban and Duduble clan and a cease fire has been established," the residents said.

"We have been working since Saturday after the hostility started and by Allah's grace we managed to put down the animosity and fighting. Now elders from both sides can meet and talk this out," local elder Yusuf Alim told Xinhua by phone from the villages Balalder, the flashpoint of the clashes.

Such fight for over grazing and water resources is not uncommon in that part of the war-torn horn of African nation which has been without a strong central government since 1991 after the overthrow of the late Somali leader Mohamed Siyad Barre.

Current Somali government, which is fighting off radical group of Al-Shabaab, is trying to spread its authority in areas taken from rebel forces in central and southern parts of the country.