Puntland Forces Fired Warninig Shorts At British Warship Off Somali Coast
Security forces of Somalia's breakaway region of Puntland said on Saturday that they have fired at a British warship that anchored near the coastline of the semi-autonomous region.
The provincial commissioner of Sanaag region, Mohanmud Dabayl said the war ship sailed towards Laasqoray, a strategic port town in the North of Somalia which is part of a territory disputed by the Puntland and Somaliland authorities.
"The ship appeared to have been misdirected and its captain may have been told that Laasqoray is part of Somaliland. It was sailing towards Laasqoray" Dabayl told the local media in Bosaso.
He said Puntland authorities fired warning shots after it emerged that the warship entered their territory without priori notification, an issue regional officials said is a violation of territorial sovereignty.
"Our security forces fired warning shots towards the ship because it was sailing through the coast off Puntland. The fire warning was to tell the crew that they were not in the territorial waters of Somaliland" he added
The regional commissioner said Puntland security personnel netted one person who was waving the flag of the self declared republic of Somaliland at the time when the ship was fired at.
Reports indicated that earlier last week, a British warship have crossed into Somaliland's port city of Berbera where President Ahmed Silanyo reportedly met British officials on board the ship.
The ship is believed to be a patrol ship that is part of the western-led anti-piracy initiatives along the dangerous coast off Somalia. Somaliland and Puntland are engaged in a longstanding border dispute particularly along the borders of the controversial Sool, Sanaag and Ceyn regions in the central north of Somalia.
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