Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Al-shabab insurgents and fighters of a local militia are feared to clash in the middle Juba region. Fighters from both sides are reported to be collecting weapons as they prepare to fight.

A local militia in Buale district, the capital of middle Juba region, has confronted Al-shabab insurgents after the groups disagreed on the location of a charcoal collection point Al-shabab wants to establish in Ridile division west of Buale.

Al-shabab usually earns most of its revenue from charcoal export trade which is usually taken to the Gulf countries via Kismayo and Marka ports in Southern Somalia.

Omar Barkhadle, a local elder in Buale, told radio Bar-kulan that the Shabab militias have contracted local businessmen in the area to establish the charcoal collection point. However, some local militias are against the move.