Confrontations erupt in Somalia

At least 22 persons were killed and another 30 wounded in Beedawa, south of the Somali capital Makadishu on Monday night, in new battles that erupted between warring Somali factions.

The spokesman for the Rahnoyen resistance army was quoted by AFP as saying that the said army had lost 8 of its fighters, whereas 14 of those killed were supporters of Hussein Muhammad Aideed.

However, fighting resumed between Rahnoyen and Aideed troops in November. The feud between the two sides went back to 1995 when Aideed's father, the late Gen. Muhammad Farah Aideed, took control of the city of Beedawa from the tribe of Rahnoyen.

A state of disorder and disturbance is prevailing in Somalia where there has been no central government since the collapse of the government of Muhammad Seyyad Berri in 1991.