More than 100 dead in new clashes in Las Anod, in the semi-autonomous region of Somaliland

MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

At least 112 people have died and more than 500 have been injured after heavy clashes in the last few hours in the city of Las Anod, the epicenter of the long territorial dispute between the self-proclaimed republic of Somaliland and the Somali semi-autonomous region of Puntland since 2007. in the northern horn of Africa.

The latest death toll, which also includes health personnel, shows that the clashes between the parties have been "fierce" and have lasted for more than seven hours, according to medical sources told the Anatolia news agency.

A doctor from the Gargaar Hospital in Las Anod, Ismael Mohamed Haji, has warned that the Somaliland forces are preventing the passage of ambulances that reach the health centers and that there is a lack of personnel to treat the wounded.

"We are completely overwhelmed. We don't have enough doctors, surgeons, traumatologists," he said, adding that 90 percent of the hospital's doctors are general practitioners and that they are running out of supplies, Radio France Internationale has reported.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported last Friday that, due to the fighting, around 60,000 Somalis, mainly women and children, have sought refuge in Ethiopia in recent weeks.

Fighting broke out on 6 February in Las Anod, the administrative center of the Sool region between Somaliland forces and militant groups after local leaders represented in the so-called Sool, Sanaag and Cayn Regions Unity and Salvation Authority (SSC) declare their intention to rejoin federal Somalia.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, but has not gained wide international recognition for its status and has faced opposition from some clan elders in disputed areas along its border with Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland state. Faced with this situation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has called for a "credible and impartial" investigation into the clashes.