At least eight people have been slain and 25 others hurt in clashes between the military forces of the breakaway republic of Somaliland and local armed clan militias that erupted in northern Somalia early Monday morning, witnesses and officials said.
Aqil Abdullahi Hassan, a local elder, said that Somaliland forces attacked the village of Kalshale, about 21 kilometers north of the Buuhoodle district in the Sool region, an area claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland.
“It is 4 p.m. local time, the clashes are still continuing as a lot of Somaliland troops deployed in Kalshale village,” Hassan said.
Heavy weapons and the crackling of machine gunfire, which the two warring sides had been using, could be heard in villages that lie on the vicinity of Kalshale area.
What has caused the clashes is still unknown, but local militias are against the presence of Somaliland forces in the area as they claim to be part of Puntland state.
Sources close to Somaliland military forces said that at least four of its soldiers were killed during the confrontations.
Speaking to the Somaliland parliament, Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo, the president of the Somaliland administration, talked about the clashes in the Buuhoodle district.
Silanyo said military forces in the area will be evacuated from Kalshale, a pastoral area.
Officials in Somalia’s semi-autonomous province of Puntland said they are not involved in the confrontations in Sool region, according to Puntland-run radio Garowe
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