Witnesses say violence in a Somali pirate stronghold has killed 12 people in two days.

Local elder Osman Abdullah says the fighting in Harardhere started late Friday as a dispute over a car. He said the violence escalated as clan militias got involved.

A witness, Nor Dahir, said yesterday that he saw at least 12 corpses and about 15 wounded people.

Rampant piracy has disrupted traffic along the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Many bandits operate out of steamy coastal dens like Harardhere.

Somalia has had no effective central government since 1991.