/ Source: The Associated Press
Officials and witnesses say at least 13 people were killed in heavy clashes between armed groups fighting for control of villages in central Somalia.
The fighting erupted when a government-allied militia attacked Wardhumale village Saturday. The clashes continued Sunday.
Wardhumale resident Abdi Fatah Ali said Sunday he saw ten bodies in the village.
A man in neighboring Elgod village, Abdulkadir, said he saw three bodies.
The residents said the Islamist militia al-Shabab abandoned Wardhumale village, leaving the government-allied Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama militia in charge.
Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama is a Sufi clan-based militia. It says the insurgents are practicing a brand of Islam foreign to Somalia.
Somalia has been a failed state for nearly 20 years.