Hiiraan Online
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Wounded is receiving treatment at Lasanod Hospital - Photo HOL
LASANOD (HOL) --- At least 20 people were killed and dozens others were wounded in a fighting between clan militias in a disputed northern Somalia town Wednesday, residents said.
The clan militias vying for the control of Lasanod town in Sool region started after a dispute between two clan militias in the town who fought for land before clashed as two sides exchanged heavy gunfire and mortar shelling.
The town’s control is disputed between Somaliland, Puntland and Khatumo State for years with forces from the two sides engaged in deadly fighting numerous times.
“The situation is tense, the two sides are regrouping for a new conflict.” Said Mohamed Abdi, a resident in the town by phone.
Witnesses told HOL that clan militia from the neighbouring town of Burtinle have joined the fighting as hundreds of residents fled from the town to nearby forests.
Sources at the town’s hospital reported that at least 10 wounded victims were brought into the hospital as fears of a larger conflict mounts.
Today’s fighting, the deadliest the town has ever seen is a worrying development for the residents as elders in the town started efforts aimed at mediating the two sides.
No comment could be reached from officials from the regional states in northern on the new conflict in the town.
Las Anod is strategically positioned along trade routes in northwestern Somalia as the city almost surrounded by hills and has considerable water resources, the latter of which makes it a prime destination for peoples from other parts of generally arid Somalia as well as from neighboring countries such as Djibouti and Ethiopia.