Somalia: armed factions in Puntland agree ceasefire after clashes leave dozens dead

Armed factions in Somalia’s northern semi-autonomous state of Puntland have agreed to a ceasefire after dozens of people had been killed after the state’s parliament voted to change the region’s voting system.
At least 26 people were killed and 30 injured on Tuesday (20 June) in clashes outside parliament in Garowe, the Puntland capital, between local security forces and armed militiamen loyal to the opposition, police and witnesses said. The clashes occurred as the local parliament debated constitutional changes that include the introduction of one-man-one-vote elections, which the opposition sees as an attempt by the President of Puntland to extend his term of office. But after a group of traditional elders said on Wednesday (21 June) they helped negotiate a pause in the fighting, the sound of gunfire had reportedly stopped, fighters had left the streets and shops reopened.
Opposition groups in Puntland accuse the region’s leader Said Abdullahi Deni of seeking to extend his term in office beyond January next year, or help tip the ballot in his favour. Deni has not commented publicly on the allegations. Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called on both sides to silence their guns and return to the negotiating table. Also Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre called on both parties to settle their differences through dialogue “rather than arms”. An arid oil-rich region on the northeastern coast of Somalia, Puntland declared autonomy in 1998, and relations with the central government in Mogadishu have often been tense.