At least eight people were killed and more than ten others were injured in midnight fighting between Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighters and Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (ASWJ) militia which erupted in the village of Fadhigaradle, in the Galgadud region of central Somalia, according to ASWJ officlas and resdients.
Sheikh Abdiweli Farah, an ASWJ official in Balanbale, told Somalia Report, "Our forces engaged with ONLF forces, and with God's grace, we forced them to retreat and go back to their bases in the jungle. We are increasing security in the villages and deploying more forces," he added.
ONLF militia have been crossing over the border from Ethiopia into the Galgugud region in Somalia over recent weeks and attacking villages belonging to the ASWJ. ONLF fighters are angered by the ASWJ's closeness to the Ethiopian regime, from which they are seeking independence.
Sheikh Abdiweli told Somalia Report that ASWJ forces killed five ONLF militia and injured six others, while he claimed ASWJ had lost three dead and four injured. He also said that the injured were immediately taken to Balanbale for treatment.
ONLF officials were not availabe for comment. The ONLF represent ethnically Somali pastoral people living in the Ogaden region within Ethiopia, who seek independence from the Ethiopian regime, and resent the tacit support of ASWJ by allowing Ethiopian troops into the area, as part of the fight against al-Shabaab.