20 People Killed in Clashes in Somaliland
At least 20 people have been killed in Somalia's
breakaway region of Somaliland in clashes between anti-government protesters
and security forces over several days, according to a doctor at a public
hospital.
For more than a week police and the military have
been battling the protesters in Laascaanood, a town in Somaliland's east which
is disputed between Somaliland and neighboring Puntland, one of Somalia's
semi-autonomous regions.
Mohamed Farah, a doctor at Laascaanood Hospital, a
public facility in Laascaanood, told Reuters at least 20 people had been killed
and dozens injured. He said he had seen the bodies of victims brought into the
facility.
Protesters are demanding that Somaliland cede
control of the town to Puntland and also accuse security forces of failing to
end insecurity in the town.
"Somaliland forcefully occupied Laascaanood and
failed to secure it. We are demanding that they leave," Adaan Jaamac
Oogle, the spokesperson of the protesters told Reuters.
"We cannot tolerate continuing bloodshed of civilians."
The police did not immediately respond to a call
from Reuters requesting comment.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has
not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The
region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades
of civil war.
Puntland's Vice President, Ahmed Elmi Osman Karash,
accused the security forces of violence.
"What is being done by the Somaliland army is a
massacre of civilians," he told Reuters by phone.
Mahad Ambaashe Elmi, a senior commander in the
Somaliland army, did not return a Reuters call requesting comment.
Somaliland's Minister of Information, Saleebaan Cali
Koore, appealed to the protesters in a statement Saturday to stop their
demonstrations and begin negotiations with the government.
VOA and Reuters
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