Residents in the town of Las Qoray in a disputed region between
Somaliland and Puntland say there are signs of an impending military
clash between the two regional rivals, following the take over of the
strategic coastal town two days ago by Somaliland troops. As VOA
Correspondent Alisha Ryu reports from our East Africa Bureau in
Nairobi, tension between Somaliland and Puntland began escalating
about two weeks ago when Somali pirates arrived in the Las Qoray area
with four hostages.
Las Qoray resident Mohamed Aynab tells VOA that the town is at the
center of a brewing conflict and scared residents are preparing to
flee.
Aynab says people in Las Qoray are terrified and confused by the
sudden presence of Somaliland troops in their town and Puntland
threats to take it back by force. He says Somaliland authorities are
now in charge of Las Qoray.
The trouble began soon after Puntland-based pirates moved to the
mountains near Las Qoray in the disputed Sanag region with four
hostages they kidnapped last month off the coast of Somalia near
Yemen.
Sanag's regional Governor Mohamed Said Nur says local elders asked
Puntland to temporarily withdraw its forces in the area and give the
elders a chance to negotiate with the pirates for the release of the
hostages.
The governor, who is loyal to the Puntland government, says there was
fear that the pirates could kill the westerners if they felt
threatened by soldiers and that is why the troops pulled out of the
Las Qoray area last week. He says Somaliland took advantage of the
situation and moved its troops in.
VOA was unable to reach Somaliland officials for comment. In media
reports, Somaliland officials said that its troops entered Las Qoray
to mount a rescue of the hostages. A Somaliland military commander
told Reuters news agency that his troops had the pirates surrounded
and that the area had been sealed off.
Governor Nur insists that local elders are still negotiating with the
pirates. He says if the negotiations fail, Puntland troops would be
redeployed to Las Qoray, raising fears that the two sides could fight
over control of the town.
Since 1998, semi-autonomous Puntland has claimed Sanag, and its
neighboring Sool region, as sovereign territory based on the ethnic
make-up of the region's inhabitants and their clan ties to Puntland.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but is
not internationally recognized, claims both regions based on the
colonial border drawn by the British.
The disputed strip of desert has been the site of numerous skirmishes.
Two major battles took place just in the past year.
Last October, the two rivals clashed over control of Las Anod, the
capital of Sool. Five months later, they exchanged heavy gunfire in
the town of Dahar in the Sanag region.
Each prompted warnings that a full-scale war could break out and
further destabilize Somalia and the Horn.
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