MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Somaliland’s information minister, Suleiman Yussuf Ali Kore and the region’s speaker Abdirisaq Khalif Ahmed have traded accusations over clashes in Las Anod which claimed the lives of more than 150 people.
In a statement, minister Kore said accused the speaker of financing the vigilantes fighting Somaliland forces in the Sool region.
The minister said Ahmed covertly works with armed locals who are seeking to secede from the Somaliland region in northern Somalia.
“Abdirisaaq Khalif was assigned to resolve the problem in Las Anod town. He was given funds to solve the problem but we have the information that he provided the fighters with funds, fuel and ammunition,” he said. “He fuelled the war and even stand to bold to destabilize Somaliland by opposing the independence of Somaliland.”
Speaker Ahmed accused Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi and his administration of blocking all efforts to end the crisis in Las Anod town and Sool region.
He blamed Somaliland for shelling civilians indiscriminately, killing dozens of innocent civilians and homes in the town.
Somaliland captured the Sool region from Somalia’s semiautonomous Puntland region and the two sides have been involved in deadly disputes since then.
The fighting in Las Anod has entered three weeks.
The US government has reiterated a call to end violence in Las Anod town in northern Somalia amid shelling and gunfire continue.
Last week, a US delegation visited Hargeisa town of Somaliland to discuss with Somaliland authorities the ongoing violence in Las Anod of Sool region.
“We are gravely concerned with the violence in Lascanood…. We call for an immediate de-escalation of violence, the protection of civilians, unimpeded humanitarian access, and for tensions to be resolved peacefully through dialogue.” – US ambassador at UN, Linda Thomas.
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