By Hafsa Mursal
At the end of December 2022, a young politician was assassinated in Laasanod. This was the most recent targeted killing in a long series of similar attacks, which had not been prevented or at least followed up and solved by the Somaliland authorities in town.
In reaction, Laasanod residents started protesting against the prevailing insecurity in town. This escalated into violence when Somaliland troops controlling the place started shooting at protesters, killing some 15-20 persons and injuring more (mainly youngsters) and this was just the beginning of war between the Dulbahante troops and Somaliland troops.
Somaliland’s troops have since been stationed outside the city, which has since remained under the control of a local committee of 33 elders of the Dhulbahante clan.
What is at stake here?
After years of debate, Dhulbahante elders in Sool announced on February 6 that they would like to be independent of both administrations and form their own federal state under Somalia, named SSC-Khaatumo.
“We have decided that the Federal Republic of Somalia shall administer the SSC-Khaatumo region until the completion of the federalisation of Somalia’s land,” they said in a statement, quoting the Somali constitution.
Just before the declaration was to be released, forces from Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, reportedly attacked Las Anodand forces loyal to the clans fought back.
“We believe Somaliland had received some information of the details of the declaration in advance which they didn’t receive well,” Garad Mukhtar, one of the elders at the conference, told Al Jazeera. “We strongly believe the attack was their attempt to disrupt the meeting.”
What has the damage been so far?
As of Thursday March 2nd the town’s mayor Abdirahin Ali told a press conference that 210 people have been killed in Las Anod and over 2000 civilians displaced.
Those displaced are currently in refugee camps. Ali said over 680 people have been taken to various hospitals across town wounded, and raised concerns that local hospitals will no longer be able to admit the raising number of patients.
The United Nations recently expressed concerns that the conflict could end up causing a humanities crisis if action is not taken immediately.
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UN said an estimated 185,282 people have been displaced, as per the interagency assessment report published on February 13th2023.
On March 1st Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) country representative for Somalia and Somaliland, gave statement regarding how the fighting in and around Las Anod is affecting health care;
“Yesterday morning (February 28, 2023), the hospital we support in Las Anod was hit during indiscriminate fighting for a fourth time in three weeks. This time it caused partial damage to the structure and brought a stop to activities in the pediatric ward and blood bank. Since the fighting started at the beginning of February, activities in almost all departments except the emergency room have been reduced due to security concerns, but now the needed blood supply is no longer available for the newly arrived wounded.
“What we are witnessing today is a desperate situation where the human suffering of the violence is tremendous—displacing people from their homes and making them fear for their lives. Staff and colleagues tell me they are afraid to be in the hospital, they can only pray because they cannot protect themselves as there is hardly any safe place to hide and the structure is not protected against these indiscriminate attacks.
This should not be the case; it is a hospital after all. I wonder about the patients and how they feel seeking help in a hospital that might not be safe to shelter them.”
What happens next?
Fighting between Somaliland militias and authorities in Las Anod, Sool Region, will likely continue through late March. In late February, Somaliland accused neighboring Puntland of waging war against government forces by providing military support to local militias.
Somaliland President Muse Bihi also announced to dispatch of clan elders to end the violence in late February. However, leaders of Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn (SSC) regions rejected the call demanding government forces to pull out their troops as a precondition for dialogue.
Security personnel will almost certainly remain deployed in the area over the coming days. Further confrontations between local militias and the security forces are likely. Officials could impose restrictive movement measures, including curfews and road closures. Additional clashes and resulting casualties could spark unrest.