Fighting in the area of Las Anod, in the breakaway Somaliland republic, has escalated, with medical sources now saying that more than 100 people have been killed in three weeks of clashes. Local militias are fighting to pull three regions away from Somaliland in order to rejoin Somalia. So far, calls for a ceasefire are being ignored. Las Anod is the capital of the Sool region, which together with the Sanaag and Cayn regions, is fighting to withdraw from Somaliland and be governed by Somalia to the south, reports Ahmed Mohamed for VOA.
The U.N. and other diplomatic missions in the country have called for an end to the fighting, and so has Somalia’s federal government. Despite these calls, shelling and gunfire have continued as both sides have dug trenches to defend their positions.
Somaliland President Muse Bihi announced that he would be dispatching clan elders to seek an end to the violence. However, clan elders in the battle- battered town demanded that Somaliland pull out its troops first as a precondition for dialogue.
Aid agencies have warned the fighting could worsen an already fragile humanitarian situation, as the Horn of Africa battles a severe drought that the U.N. warns could degenerate into famine by midyear.
