Hiiraan Online
Tuesday October 23, 2018
LAS ANOD (HOL) - More than 50 people were killed and over 80 others were hurt after two clan militias clashed in northern Somalia, residents and officials said on Tuesday.
The fighting which started over a protracted land ownership dispute in Dhumay, a village 30km south of Lasanod, the administrative capital of Sool region in the breakaway northern Somalia territory comes days after the two respective clans reached a peace deal earlier this month.
Dozens of people have also been killed in similar clashes by the two clans involved in the latest fighting in 2004.
“This heartbreaking fighting was never expected by anyone given the fact that elders from the two clans involved have recently signed a peace deal after 30 days of talks.” Abdirashid Hussein Arab, the governor of Sool region told reporters in Lasanod town on Tuesday.
“This has to stop sooner than later.” He said.
Meanwhile, residents in the nearby Lasanod town where the fighting which involved machine guns, propelled grenades and battlewagons lasted more than ten hours and forced markets to shut down and restricted traffic movements wore white headbands in protest of the fighting and appealed the two sides involved to stop the bloodshed.
“Please stop this meaningless fighting, you are only killing your own people, not enemies.” shouted one woman amongst hundreds of protestors gathered in the town’s centre.
Despite a previous ceasefire order by Somaliland government which has since deployed troops that separated the warring sides, the two militiamen have reportedly resumed fighting shortly after troops stationed in the area have moved to a nearby town.
According to Mr. Arab, the government is doing all it can to end the conflict amid parallel efforts by local authorities and clan elders to redeploy troops that’d have to separate the warring militiamen and monitor ceasefire before talks are to be resumed to end the conflict.
The latest clashes were part of a long standing feud between clans in Somaliland which despite having escaped decades of civil strife which largely affected the country’s south faces mounting challenges in containing subsequent clannish fighting that officials said left hundreds dead in the enclave in recent years.