At least 41 people have been killed in heavy tribal clashes between al-Shabaab and Ahl-ul-Sunna wal-Jamaa fighters in central Somalia, reported Press TV .
Hundreds of al-Shabaab fighters attacked Ahl-ul-Sunna strongholds in the town of Guriel on Sunday with the two sides exchanging heavy mortars, Press TV's correspondent in Somalia has revealed.
The fighting broke out two weeks after Ahl-ul-Sunna wal-Jamaa reclaimed Guriel, 300 kilometers northeast of the capital Mogadishu by forcing the al-Shabaab fighters out.
Some sources attribute the al-Shabaab withdrawal to reports of Ethiopian armed movements in Guriel. The prospects caused many locals to desert the town.
Sunday's fighting has left 41 people dead from both sides. No civilians were killed as locals had deserted the town following clashes in December.
However, many houses have been destroyed as a result of mortar attacks from both sides.
Ethiopian troops were deployed in Somalia in 2006 to help defeat the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and its military wing al-Shabaab -- which ruled much of south and central Somalia.
Addis Ababa had pledged to withdraw its forces from Somalia by the end of 2008.
Ethiopian troops, however, have been capturing towns in western Somalia from insurgents in the past few weeks.
