A doctor said on Saturday that at least 57 people have been verified dead following days of fighting in the disputed city of Las Anod between antigovernment insurgents and Somaliland security forces after local officials declared they wanted to rejoin the federal government of Somalia.
Abdimajid Over 400 people were also injured during the close to a week of violence, according to Hussein Sugulle, director-general of a public hospital in Las Anod.
On Friday night, authorities in Somaliland, a province that broke away from Somalia thirty years ago and is vying for independence, unilaterally declared a cease-fire. Residents claimed that clashes persisted in and around the eastern city.
The ownership of Las Anod has been disputed between Somaliland and the Somali state of Puntland for many years.
The Somaliland government claimed that clan insurgents had attacked its military installations. Traditional leaders retaliated by claiming that Somaliland forces had invaded the city and that their departure was the only way to bring about peace.
Over 80,000 people have reportedly been displaced by the conflict, according to the UN. As bombardment continues, water and electricity have been cut off.
The U.N. and its allies declared earlier in the week that “indiscriminate shelling of civilians is intolerable and must cease.”
One of its volunteers, who was killed by a stray bullet, was among the dead, according to the Somali Red Crescent Society.
