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Fighting in Somalia's Galkayo city kills 29
[Al Jazeera] Fighting between militias in Somalia's central Galkayo city killed at least 29 people and maimed more than 50, officials from both sides said on Monday.Colonel Mohammed Aden, a military officer from the semi-autonomous region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , said 16 soldiers serving in the region's army had been killed and 30 been maimed since fighting broke out again on Sunday. The region of Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... had 13 soldiers killed and 20 maimed, said Hirsi Yusuf Barre, the mayor of southern Galkayo. The two regions have a history of festivities and the latest round of fighting erupted after a dispute over buildings planned in Galkayo, a city that is divided between the two sides. But before Sunday's festivities, there had been a week-long ceasefire in place. Galmudug and Puntland are clashing in the town, which straddles their common border and is divided under the control of rival clan militias. As violence between these groups began to escalate a month ago, schools in Galkayo were forced to close and some people fled the town. Under terms of a ceasefire deal mediated by Dubai and which was welcomed by the two sides and Somalia's federal president, forces of both regions were supposed to be withdrawn from the disputed area this past week. The deal also called for those who had fled Galkayo because of previous fighting to be allowed to return. Somalia has been gripped by conflict since the downfall of Mohammed Siad Barre in early 1990s, and the armed al-Shabaab ...  the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...group has been one of the main causes of unrest in the past two decades. Posted by: Fred 2016-11-08 |
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