Paving The Path Of Unity

In January 2023 almost all the community members in las-anod including traditional leaders and elders started a revolution against the independence campaign that Somaliland started in 1991 after the Siyad barre regime which collapsed in 1991 committed what Somaliland calls Isaaq-Genocide in 1988, the Isaaq Genocide claimed the life of more than 100,000 people, after this cruel massacre committed by the central government led by president Mohamed Siyad Barre  Somaliland claimed it’s s independence from Somalia although it was not inclusive to all Somaliland inhabitants, the independence campaign is limited to only two regions although Somaliland claims the other six regions including Sool, Sanaag and Cayn(SSC) which is the home of the tribe who is currently fighting against the independence of Somaliland, SSC fighters is the name given to the collective local young men who took their guns against Somaliland in las-anod.

  

On 6^th February 2023 Somaliland forces attacked a house where some of the elders gathered to release a joint statement of the SSC community leaders which declared SSC is under the Federal Somali government and Somaliland troops must withdraw from the city.

From 6^th February to 20^th February there are more than180 civilian casualties reported including 7 children and their mother who have been killed by a mortar fired by the Somaliland troops who attacked the city under the direct orders of the president of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi, the education of more than 15,000 children is affected after more than 50 schools were closed since Somaliland attacked the city.

Interagency assessment report which was published on 13 Feb 2023 estimated 185,282 individuals have been displaced to the rural areas and also other neighboring cities and towns, the displaced individuals are vulnerable for being hit by the server droughts that affected almost 70% of the Internally displaced people in Somalia, all of the displaced people from Laas-anod are cohabiting with relatives in nearby towns because they don’t have adequate housing materials that can provide shelter to the women and children who were newly moved out of their native city.

Presedent  Hassan sheikh Mohamoud called for peace in las-anod in multiple occasions and emphasized the elders of las-anod and the Somaliland leaders to open peace talks before the war claims more lives and exacerbates the living conditions of the most vulnerable individuals who were newly displaced from their homes.

The international community also released joint statement in which they condemned the ferocious steps taken by Somaliland troops in las-anod which includes the shelling of civilians in the public places such as in the mosques and hospitals.

The elders and the traditional leaders in Las-anod released a press release in which they requested from Somaliland to withdraw their soldiers from the city and start unconditional ceasefire, the SSC leaders said they will only come on the negotiation table with two conditions.

1-Unconditional ceasefire from Somaliland.

2-Somaliland Troops to withdraw from las-anod.    

In the other hand Somaliland military chief in command Nuuh Taani said, they are fighting against terrorists in las-anod while implicating and marking the elders as terrorists which is clearly mendacious and misleading statement.

Now the war entered its 14^th day and still there is no tangible gains from either of the sides yet both sides are claiming victories.

Some reports are indicating the possibility of tribal reinforcement from other Darood clans to back up their fellow clan members in las-anod, although those sources are not reliable but the sense of reinforcement is felt in the nearby cities and towns.

Those  recurrent internal civil conflicts between Somaliland and SSC  regions especially in las-anod demonstrates how exclusive Somaliland’s recognition campaign is for only the Isaaq clan, other tribes in Somaliland such as Dhulbahante, Warsangeli and some small number of people who live in Awdal Region do not generally accept to be part of Somaliland, Although the self-declared independent state contends to argue Somaliland is for all the people who live in it, but that is not the case if you look closely at the structure of the Somaliland government, all the high level positions were always given to the politicians from Isaaq clan which is the majority clan, and the rest were oppressed.

In my point of view, this conflict in Las-anod will pave the path for the unity of the Republic of Somalia which was the 3 decade long hoped vision for all the Somali past and present leaders.

written by : Amin Guled