Heavy fighting in Somali conflict 'kills ten'
Continued Somalian instability is sparking fears of a regional war
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Sunday, 12, Nov 2006 06:24
At least ten people have died in Somalia following fighting between a supporter of the weak transitional government and the rebel Council of Islamic Courts over a strategically important settlement, reports suggest.
The village of Bandiradley, situated close to the border with Ethiopia, has been the target of the fighting, although both sides have denied initiating today's bloodshed.
The militia sympathetic to the transitional government are from a warlord controlling the northern Puntland region of the country, who claimed that they have retreated to the north temporarily rather than permanently evacuating the town.
The Council of Islamic Courts has insisted that it was forced to enter the town in order to ensure its own security.
However, the transitional government has denied that its base close to Bandiradley was captured by the Islamist troops.
A spokesperson told the Reuters news agency that although fighting is ongoing the alleged assault had been "successfully repelled".
Most of the casualties have been those engaged in the fighting, rather than civilians, witnesses say.
Somalia's transitional government rejected a provisional peace agreement this weekend drawn up by an unofficial delegation of MPs, led by the parliament's speaker.
It has struggled to re-assert any realistic hold on power throughout most of Somalia since it lost the country's capital, Mogadishu, in July.