Somali town quiet a day after heavy fighting leaves at least 17 dead

From Mohamed Amiin Adow, For CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

20 others are injured in clashes between Islamist insurgents and government forces
A local journalist describes the town's atmosphere as "a shaky calm"
The fighting comes amid a series of similar clashes throughout Somalia

(CNN) -- Guns fell silent Tuesday in the embattled central Somali town of Beledweyne, a day after heavy fighting between Islamist insurgents and government forces left at least 17 people dead and 20 others injured.

"There is a shaky calm now in the town, but tensions still remain high with residents starting to leave," a local journalist said.

Town elder Abdullahi Aynte told CNN he saw the dead bodies of at least three civilians who were killed in Monday's fighting.

"The fighting is so very heavy and government forces are around the corners while Al-Shabaab fighters are consolidating their defense lines inside the town, so we are worried that casualties may rise if the fighting spreads in populated areas," Aynte said.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Nur Dabashe, a government military officer, said government forces inflicted heavy losses on insurgents.

"We killed a number of Al-Shabaab fighters and destroyed vehicles mounted with heavy guns," Dubashe said.

The journalist said he saw the bodies of at least 13 Al-Shabaab militants on the outskirts of town.

The fighting in Beledweyne comes as a series of clashes between government forces and Islamist insurgents rattles other areas of south and central Somalia.

Al-Shabaab is waging a war against Somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, or sharia. Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country.

On Sunday, Somali government forces wrested control of Bulo Hawo, a strategic town on the Somali side of the Kenyan border, from Al-Shabaab.

Also in central Somalia, Ahlu Sunna, a moderate Sufi group allied with the Somali government, clashed with Al-Shabaab over the control of the towns of Dhusomareeb and Adado.

And last week, gunmen kidnapped two aid workers from Adado, near the Ethiopian border, according to the charity Save the Children. The two -- a Somali national and a Briton -- worked for the organization.