Several people have been killed and several others injured in anti-government protests in the southeast of the breakaway region of Somaliland, multiple independent sources have confirmed.
The violent confrontations entered the 5th day on Saturday as protests have been held in the town of Las Anod, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of the Somaliland capital Hargeisa, following the killing of a politician by gunmen.
Saleban Ali Kore, communications minister of Somaliland offered “condolence” to victims’ families and said they were killed in “violent incidents” in Las Anod, without giving details on the number of fatalities.
Meanwhile, the head of the main opposition Wadani party, Abdirahman Iro, told the rallying crowd on Saturday that “more than 10 people were killed in Las Anod” adding that about 50 others were wounded.
According to the local residents, a large number of security forces were deployed in Las Anod on Saturday, and most businesses remained closed.
Tensions escalated as security forces tried to disperse the protesters and fired live ammunition, according to witnesses.
The protests came in the wake of the assassination of rising politician Abdifatah Abdillah Hadrawi by masked attackers last week. The opposition accuses the government of playing a role in the assassination, but there is no independent investigation to support the claim.
The regional President Muse Bihi Abdi accused the “enemy of Somaliland” of being behind the assassination plot. Bihi sent condolences and urged the residents to stay calm and maintain the peace, but the protesters seem to take a new dimension with politicians standing against the government.
Somaliland government is also under pressure from opposition leaders who are calling for presidential polls, which had the term expiring in November but elections are yet to be held.
The town of Las Anod is a source of conflict between Somaliland and its neighbor, Puntland. The city is a very old commercial and strategic crossroads that have changed hands several times since Somaliland’s independence.
The self-proclaimed Republic of Somaliland is a breakaway from Somalia, positioned along the Gulf of Aden and home to the deep-water strategic port of Berbera. Somaliland has maintained self-rule since the 1991 civil war but has not won international recognition.
While some countries maintain informal relations with the self-declared government in Hargeisa, it is not diplomatically recognized by most other countries. The region of 4.5 million people has remained poor and isolated ever since.
