Over 100 killed in clashes between Somaliland and Puntland

Conflicting reports from the disputed region of Sool, northern Somalia, indicate that at least 100 people were killed on Friday when forces from the self-declared republic of Somaliland, and those of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, clashed, a local source told IRIN.

Both sides are accusing the other of initiating the hostilities.

The Somaliland Minister of Information, Abdillahi Du'ale, told IRIN on Monday: "The fact of the matter is that it was a premeditated aggression" by Puntland forces.

He accused the current Puntland leader, Muhammad Abdi Hashi, of having "orchestrated" the clashes "in consultation with Abdullahi Yusuf [the newly-elected president of Somalia and former Puntland leader]".

Du'ale claimed that Somaliland forces had killed more than 100 Puntland militiamen and destroyed an undetermined number of military hardware. He said their forces lost seven soldiers and nine were wounded.

"We regret this unnecessary loss of life," he said.

However, the Puntland Deputy Minister of Information Ibrahim Artan Isma'il dismissed reports that the Puntland attacked as "baseless".

"Our forces defended their position when attacked by Somaliland forces," he said. "They did not attack Somaliland".

Isma'il also denied Puntland forces lost over 100 men.

"The information I am receiving from our forces is that we lost 12 men and four [were] wounded," he said. "It is Somaliland that lost close to 100 men."

Reports indicate that the fighting between the two sides started on Friday at Ari Adey village [30 km north of the regional capital, Las Anod] and continued for most of the day, Muhammad Sa'id Kashwito, a journalist on the Bosaso-based Midnimo Radio, told IRIN. Kashawiito said that the fighting had subsided "due to heavy rains in the area".

Although no fighting was reported in the area on Monday, it remains tense and both sides were said to have amassed troops on either side of the village of Ari Adey, Kashawito said.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the fighting, but tension between the two sides had been simmering since Puntland troops took total control of Las Anod in December 2003. Before then, both sides had official representation in the town.

Puntland leaders declared the region autonomous in 1998 with the aim of reconstituting Somalia as a federal republic.

Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of the country following the overthrow of the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre in 1991. The region has remained relatively peaceful even as the rest of Somalia descended into anarchy and violence.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare, in a statement issued on Sunday, appealed to the two parties "to immediately cease all hostilities and desist from any action that would further exacerbate the situation."

"These developments are all the more regrettable as they come at a time when the Somali National Reconciliation Conference has registered historic progress," Konare said.