Friday, December 27, 2013
"The life of the displaced people
is now getting worse for several reasons, including lack of shelter,
shortage of food stuffs and medicine" said Muktar Ibrahim Habashi, who
serves as minister in the state's presidency.
"Disease broke out in the camps of the villages settled by the people
displaced from Taleh, including diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria, etc., so
they need emergency assistance," he added.
The displaced are scattered in various locations in Taleh district,
including Haliil to the east, Lumay and Habar-dhegooti to the southeast,
and Kalcad and Buuq-dheer to the southwest.
Elders in eastern Sool, Sanag and Ayn areas announced the formation
of Khatumo state in January 2012, expressing dismay with the
administrations in Somaliland and Puntland, neighbouring regions whose
long-running territorial dispute covers parts of Khatumo.
The violence in November, in which several civilians were killed,
pitted Puntland's forces against those of Khatumo, with each side
blaming the other for the clash, which took place just ahead of a
planned conference to take stock of developments in Khatumo and to name a new administration.
Puntland's leadership dismisses the Khatumo entity as a bid by
"failed politicians" who now want to destabilize Puntland ahead of presidential elections due on 8 January 2014.
Commenting on the outbreak of violence, the UN Special Representative for Somalia Nicholas Kay on 30 November urged for calm.
"Violence cannot and will not resolve political issues. All those
with a stake in the area must show calm and pursue reconciliation," he
said.
"Peace and stability are also critical to the Puntland election process."
There are challenges ahead of the elections.
"Poor preparations and last-minute cancellation of local elections in
July [2013] underline the challenges of reconciling competing clan
interests with a democratic constitution," said a 19 December briefing
by the International Crisis Group, which noted that as social tensions
remain unaddressed, "the presidential vote by a clan-selected parliament
in January 2014 will thus be fraught."