Somalia: Over 100 people killed in Las Anod - Medics

LAS ANOD, Somalia - Over 100 people have been killed in the ongoing attacks by the Somaliland military pm Las Anod, the capital of the Sool region, which has been fighting for self-determination in the last three months.

The fighting escalated last month as local forces engaged the Somaliland military in a gunfight leaving several civilians dead according to the UN experts, despite the calls for cessation of hostilities by reputable members of the international community who have been calling for a ceasefire.

Locals have been pushing to be governed from Mogadishu, a move which has been rejected by authorities in Hargeisa who are calling for order. The Somaliland military has also refused to withdraw from the region even after pressure from community elders.

According to Dr. Abdimajid Husein Sugule, the five hospitals in the town were running out of medical supplies and bed space, as more injured and dead people were brought into the facilities each day, he told Voice of America.

The medic says at least 105 people have been killed mainly women and children who are defenseless in the war, adding that close to 602 others have been critically injured. The United Nations is leading calls for a ceasefire despite the hard stand by both parties, who have remained defiant.

Muse Bihi Abdi, the president of the breakaway region of Somaliland said he will be dispatching clan elders to mediate the conflict but so far, no solution has been reached. The government of Somaliland maintains that her troops will continue remaining in the region until the order is restored.

Hargeisa has been accusing Garowe and Mogadishu of engineering the conflict but the two parties have distanced themselves. The sool region was taken by Somaliland from the neighboring Puntland in 2007 and since then, instability along the border has been the order of the day.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently asked the two parties to solve their differences amicably while maintaining that Mogadishu will keep off the conflict. He, however, said Somaliland remains part of Somalia noting that "there is no doubt about it".

GAROWE ONLINE