Mogadishu - At least 12 people have been killed and scores of others injured in inter-clan fighting in central Somalia's Galgudud region, elders and militia officials said on Sunday.

The fighting, in Masaguway village of Galgudud region's Eldeer district Saturday, involved gunmen from the Ali-Gaf and Mahadade sub-clans of the Abgal clan, and elders and militia officials attributed its cause to hostilties between them in the Somali capital Mogadishu last year.

Somalia last had a nationally recognised government in 1991 when the regime of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre collapsed and has since been the scene of battles between rival clans and sub-clans. - Sapa-AFP