Somalia: Troops clash with anti-govt protesters, at least 20 people killed

Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has seen at least 20 people killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces over several days, according to local sources.

For more than a week police and the military have been battling the protesters in Laascaanood, a town in Somaliland’s east which is disputed between Somaliland and neighboring Puntland, one of Somalia’s semi-autonomous regions.

Mohamed Farah, a doctor at the local hospital, told the press that at least 20 people had been killed and dozens injured. He said he had seen the bodies of victims brought into the facility.

Protesters are demanding that Somaliland cede control of the town to Puntland and also accuse security forces of failing to end insecurity in the town.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil war.

Puntland’s Vice President, Ahmed Elmi Osman Karash, accused the security forces of violence. “What is being done by the Somaliland army is a massacre of civilians,” the politician told the media. Somaliland’s Minister of Information, Saleebaan Cali Koore, appealed to the protesters in a statement Saturday to stop their demonstrations and begin negotiations with the government.