More than a dozen people were killed and many more were hurt when two clans clashed in central Somalia, residents and community elders said on Friday.

The Qubeys clan and the Suleyman sub-clan of the Habargidir clan started fighting the previous day in Amara village, 90 km north of the pirate base town of Haradheeere. The fight was over a dispute over land ownership.

"So far we know that 14 people died in the hostilities between the clans and more than two dozens were injured," Mohamud Ali an Amara resident told Reuters by phone.

Abukar Dirshe an elder from the Qubeys clan said the fighting was sparked by long-standing hostilities over land ownership.

"We failed to reach accord with our neighbour so this resulted in deaths and still the area is too tense. There might be further clashes as war preparations are underway in nearby villages," he said.

Separately, fighting went on in Hodan district of Mogadishu between government soldiers and Islamist rebels, with the sound of gunfire being heard in the area on Friday.

The Horn of Africa nation has had no effective central government for 19 years and the West's efforts to prop one up has been greatly undermined by an insurgency led by the al Shabaab - viewed by Washington as al-Qaeda's proxy in the region - and Hizbul Islam groups.

Source: Reuters