20100401
PRESS TV

Deadly clashes between two rival clans in central Somalia have left at least 23 people dead amid mounting violence in the Horn of Africa nation.

The latest clash took place in the Ba'aad Weyn village south of the Mudug region on Wednesday, the Press TV correspondent reported.

Dozens more have been injured in the fighting that was triggered by long-standing hostilities over ownership of the grazing land and a water well.

Hundreds of villagers have reportedly fled the area as their herds scattered because of heavy gun battle and loud explosions.

The lethal clashes erupted as a Somali government-appointed negotiation committee and local elders were stepping up efforts to end the rift between the two clans.

Despite President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's efforts to bring long-feuding Somali factions together, parts of the capital and large areas in the country remain under clans' and the rebels' rule.

The nation in the Horn of Africa has not had a functioning government since warlords toppled Siad Barre in 1991.