Intense fighting between Somaliland forces and mlitias allied with the sool,sanaag and cayn (SSC) administration erupted into its second day in erigavo,sanaag region,on Sunday,leaving at least 15 dead and raising fears of a mounting death toll.
The clashes broke out on Saturday wheb SSC-aligned clan militias launched an assault on Somaliland security forces,sparking violent confrontations that rapidly spread across Erigavo’s neighbourhoods, a town long embroiled in tensions over contested territorial claims between the two sides.
Amid intense mortar exchanges between the warring factions,several shells landed on civilian homes,as videos circulated on social media showed erigavo residents fleeing in terror from the unprecedented gunfire, a jarring disruption to the city’s decades-long peace in contrast to the enduring conflict that has engulfed much of Somalia over the past thirty years.
The resumption of hostilities follows just days after newly elected Somaliland president Abdirahman Mohamed abdillahi ero pledged tp pursue a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict in the sool region,aimed at ending over a year of deadly clashes between the two sides.
The clashes came days after SSC authorities accused Somaliland of orchestrating the killings of civilians in Erigavo,who are clan-affiliated with residents of Lasanod and other towns in the sool region.
Source:somaliguardian