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Heavy fighting broke out between Somaliland forces and
militiamen in and around the town of Las Anod, the
administrative centre of the Sool region, on Monday after local
leaders said they wanted to rejoin federal Somalia.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has
not gained widespread international recognition for its status,
and has faced opposition from some clan elders in disputed areas
along its border with Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland state.
"Somaliland gov has agreed to an unconditional cease-fire
tonight despite past attacks by militias," Somaliland's defence
minister Abdiqani Mahamoud Ateye wrote on Twitter.
It was not immediately clear if the ceasefire was being observed
on the battlefield, but Abdirizak Mohamed Hassan, a spokesperson
for the group who oppose Somaliland rule, called the ceasefire
"a lie."
"Somaliland is planning and we know that they will launch an
invasion tomorrow," he told Reuters. "We are oppressed people
who were attacked for five days with heavy weapons."
Residents of the town said homes and health centres had been
shelled in the course of the fighting, killing at least 58
people and wounding scores of others.
The Somaliland government said militias, assisted by troops from
neighbouring Puntland, had attacked military bases outside the
town. Puntland, which has controlled the town in the past,
denied any involvement.
The United States has said the indiscriminate shelling of
civilians in the town had to stop, while the United Nations
mission in Somalia called for an immediate de-escalation of
violence, the protection of civilians, and unimpeded
humanitarian access.
(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; Writing by Hereward Holland;
Editing by Sandra Maler)
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