Medic: Somaliland military shelling hospitals in Las Anod

LAS ANOD, Somalia (GO) - A senior medic in the troubled city of Las Anod has accused regional troops of shelling hospitals where injured people are getting treatment, terming the situation "unacceptable and inhuman" as the international community piles pressure on warring factions to embrace a ceasefire.

Dr. Abdimajid Sugulle, the director of Las Anod Hospital, said over 145 people have been killed in the last four weeks when Somaliland troops started fighting with SSC-Khatumo forces in Las Anod, noting that the situation is getting out of hand if a solution is not reached in the coming days.

According to him, more than 1,080 other people have been wounded and over 100,000 families have fled the city of Las-Anod since late December. Most civilians have fled, he said, adding that the forces have been targeting innocent civilians mostly women and children in the battle.

“The Somaliland forces who are positioned outside the town have been shelling civilian residents and medical facilities indiscriminately. No single day passes without shelling and casualties,” he told the AP by phone.

According to him, the troops destroyed the hospital’s laboratory, blood bank, and patient ward in mortar attacks, making it almost impossible for the medics to treat the injured people. He lamented that such acts are against international laws, adding that there is an urgent need for the matter to be addressed.

Somaliland's defense ministry has denied shelling the hospital, and the government has asserted it has a "continuous commitment" to a ceasefire it declared on Feb. 10. "Indiscriminate shelling of civilians is unacceptable and must stop," the United Nations and international partners warned last month.

A number of elders in Las Anod are pushing for the region to be part the greater Somalia instead of Hargeisa, leading to the battle. Somaliland declared self-independence in 1991 following years of civil war in the North but it has never been recognized by the international community.

The United Nations has called for a truce in the region, warning of a possible humanitarian conflict if Somalia fails to arrest the situation. Somaliland has refused to withdraw security forces from the town, noting that there is an urgent need to "block dark forces" from destabilizing the region.

Somaliland’s government has blamed the unrest on fighters with “anti-peace groups and terrorism” and alleged that the Al-Shabaab extremist group, affiliated with al-Qaida, has supported some attacks. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has asked warring parties to embrace a ceasefire.

GAROWE ONLINE