LAS ANOD [SMN] – In the early morning of Saturday, a fierce battle broke out again outside the town of Lasanod, the capital of Sool region, after a pause in the fighting.
The war started in different directions, including Maraga and other parts in the east and west of Lasanod city, which is under the control of clan militia.
According to the reports, the fighting erupted at 4:30am after the city was attacked by forces from Somaliland, a region that claims a unilateral independence for over 30 years.
For more than two weeks there was no fighting, and the attempt for ceasefire failed.
Muse Bihi Abid, the leader of Somalia asked his army to leave their bases and city peacefully, but he refused a make a complete pull out from entire SSC regions.
Local hospital said more than 200 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded in weeks of intense fighting and bombardments.
The United Nations Security Council last month called for a de-escalation in Las Anod and condemned the civilian killing in the mortar shelling and targeting the hospitals.
Those calls have gone unheeded as both sides continued exchanging heavy fire.
Somaliland controlled the town since 2007 after capturing it from Puntland, but the local clans want a self-governance under Somalia’s federal system.
