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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SOMALIA: Clashes reported in disputed Sool region
NAIROBI, 23 Sep 2004 (IRIN) - Troops from the self-declared republic of Somaliland and those of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland clashed on Wednesday in the disputed region of Sool, to which both sides have laid claim, a local source said.
"A heavy exchange of gunfire took place around the village of Abeseoley [22 km north of the regional capital, Las Anod]," Muhammad Sa'id Kashwito, a journalist on the Bosaso-based Midnimo Radio, told IRIN on Thursday.
He said reports from the area indicated that the fighting was between "reconnaissance units" from the two sides. It was not immediately clear what triggered the fighting or what the exact casualty figures were. Both sides blamed each other over the fighting.
The regions of Sool and Sanag, in northern Somalia, geographically fall within the borders of pre-independence British Somaliland, but most of the area's inhabitants, the Warsangeli, Dhulbahante and Majerteen communities, who are members of the larger Darod clan, are associated with residents of Puntland.
The timing of these clashes could not have come at worse time given the fact that residents of the area are suffering from the effects of the prolonged drought, a humanitarian source said.
Tension between the two sides had been simmering since Puntland troops took total control of Las Anod, in December 2003. Before then, both sides had official representation in the town.
Although no fighting was reported in the area on Thursday, both sides were said to have amassed troops on either side of the village of Ari Adey, 30 km west of Las Anod, Kashawito said.
Ahmad Awad Ashara, a member of the newly created Somali transitional federal parliament, who hails from Puntland, the northeastern region of Somalia, told IRIN in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, that he had heard about the fighting. "We have heard of the clashes, but we are reserving comment until we have the full details of the situation," he said.
The official radio in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, quoted the defence ministry there as saying on Wednesday morning that forces from Puntland had launched attacks at "Somaliland National Army positions" in the village of Ari Adey.
"Three wounded militiamen who were among those who launched the attack on the Somaliland forces were taken prisoner," the radio said. "Somaliland forces are now stationed 7 km away from the centre of Las Anod."
Puntland leaders declared the region autonomous in 1998 with the aim of reconstituting Somalia as a federal republic.
Northwestern Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of the country following the overthrow of the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991. The region has remained relatively peaceful even as the rest of Somalia descended into anarchy and violence.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Maxwell Gaylard, on Wednesday urged forces fighting in the Lower Juba Region to immediately cease hostilities and seek a peaceful solution.
"The current fighting in the area is seriously disrupting the humanitarian operations currently underway," Gaylard said. "Unless the conflict can be stopped very soon, we could be witness to the kind of famine conditions experienced in 1992."
Gaylard said he was also concerned that the conflict could lead to a larger-scale violence that might eventually spread to other areas of Somalia and put the latest achievement of the reconciliation and government formation process in jeopardy.
Fighting broke out last week in the southern Somali port city of Kismayo between two rival armed factions in the surrounding areas. An estimated 500 people crossed the border into Kenya, mostly from Dhobley, not far from the border.
The fighting pitted forces of the Juba Valley Alliance, the faction that controls Kismayo, against those loyal to General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi "Morgan", who has made several attempts to capture the city in the recent past.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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