The climate is still very tense on the border between the Somali state of Puntland and Somaliland, the self-declared state in the north of the country, around the town of Las Anod. Since the assassination of a businessman engaged in politics in December 2022, armed clashes have taken place between Somaliland troops and local militiamen demanding attachment to Somalia. And this weekend, Somaliland accused the Puntland army of attacking it.
The Minister of Defense of Somaliland affirmed it again on Sunday: his country would currently be the object of an attack by the armed forces of the neighboring state, and rival, of Puntland. Puntland troops would have made a diversion far from Las Anod, by opening a new front in another border locality, according to him. That said, his government reiterated the same day its commitment to respect the unilateral and unconditional ceasefire that it had decreed on Friday.
Each side accuses the other
Religious leaders in Las Anod welcomed the ceasefire on Monday to local media, although the situation on the ground remains uncertain. Because the same religious leaders reported new fights heard east of the city. Each side accuses the other of having opened fire first and of receiving armed support from abroad, even from jihadist groups.
The dispute over Las Anod is old. Puntland and Somaliland have already clashed for its control in 2007. The Associated Press (AP) agency, quoting a hospital source, spoke on Monday of at least 57 deaths in a week of clashes between militiamen favorable to attachment to Somalia, who hold the city, and the Somaliland army, entrenched on the outskirts.
” De-escalation »
The UN and Somalia’s international partners have called for “de-escalation” and speak of more than 100,000 people displaced by the fighting.
►Also read : Somaliland: deadly violence in the city of Las Anod (December 31, 2022)