Up to 120 killed in renewed Puntland fighting

Heavy fighting has again broken out around the villages of Qayadsame and Al-Hamdulillah, near the town of Qardho, some 260 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, local media sources said.

The fighting pitted forces loyal to Col Abdullahi Yusuf against those of Jama Ali Jama, both of whom claim to be the legitimate president of Puntland.

Yusuf's forces launched "a fierce attack" on Friday to dislodge Jama's forces" from the area, the sources said. The fighting, which was described as "the heaviest seen in Puntland", lasted well into the night, claiming the lives of over 90 people, with over 100 wounded, they said. Other sources in Bosaso, however, rated the death toll much higher. "At least 120 were killed on Friday, if not more," said one.

Both sides are claiming to have the upper hand. Yusuf's chief of cabinet, Isma'il Warsame, said at least 99 of Jama's forces were killed, and 11 on Yusuf's side, Argence France Presse, reported on Saturday. However, a source in Garowe, the regional capital, told IRIN that Yusuf's side had suffered heavier casualties. "He definitely lost a lot more than Jama did, because the area favours those in defensive positions [Jama's forces]," the source said.

"Whoever has the upper hand, it is very clear that both sides suffered heavy casualties. This has to be the single biggest one-day death toll in Puntland," a reporter in Garowe told IRIN. He said Yusuf's militia leader, Areys, was wounded in the battle. There were indications that sympathisers in Garowe were reinforcing the pro-Jama forces. The area was reported calm, with no reports of clashes Monday, he added.

The fighting followed the failure of the mediation efforts by the Bosaso elders between the two sides, sources in the town said.

Controversy over Puntland's leadership has been increasingly vocal since June 2001, when Yusuf, whose term ended then, claimed that parliament had extended his mandate.

A number of Puntland's traditional elders meeting in Garowe in July 2001 rejected his claim, and named Yusuf Haji Nur, Puntland's former chief justice, as "acting president" until the election of a new administration.

The elders then convened a general congress in August and, on 14 November 2001, elected Jama Ali to a three-year term in the hope that this would end the leadership wrangle.