Intense fighting between Somali pirate gangs over a record ransom amount paid for the release of a Greek oil supertanker has killed at least six people, elders and pirates said.
Three pirates and a civilian were killed in the latest bout of fighting that erupted in the town of Harardhere late on Monday, elders and pirates told AFP by phone.
Tension has been high in the central Somali pirate lair since an estimated seven million dollars were dropped by a small plane on Sunday for the release of the VLCC Maran Centaurus.
The Greek-flagged supertanker is a third of a kilometre long and carrying two million barrels of crude oil.
"The situation is calm this morning but there is still tension between the pirates. Three of them, including a senior pirate leader, were killed so far and three others were injured," local elder Moalim Abdalla Hasan told AFP.
"We are trying to mediate between them because they are disturbing our peace. A civilian was killed in the crossfire and the residents are very concerned about this feud," he added.
Hasan Nile, a local grocer who could not open his shop yesterday because of the security situation in Harardhere, said the pirate vendetta involved heavy weapons.
"I think there will not be trust between them any more since they killed each other. Three pirates have died already since yesterday and if there's no swift mediation, more will die, including civilians," Mr Nile said.
Somalia's pirates treat every successful hijacking like a private venture in which businessmen from all over the country can invest by offering financial or material assistance, buying and selling shares.
The bigger the captured vessel, the more complex the shareholder structure. Squabbling over a ransom is not uncommon but Monday night's clashes were some of the most violent recorded in Somalia's otherwise relatively united piratehood.
According to Ecoterra International, an environmentalist NGO monitoring illegal maritime activity in the region, the pirates received up to nine million dollars in at least two separate payments.
Upward of seven million dollars were dropped on the deck of the Maran Centaurus on Sunday and the rest paid by cash transfer.
While pirates have been known to redistribute part of their share to friends and locals, some residents have complained that the modern-day buccaneers have brought inflation, alcohol and prostitution to the region.
The operators of the Maran Centaurus, the second largest vessel captured by pirates yet, confirmed the supertanker and its crew of 28 were freed on Monday and were heading for the South African port of Durban.