A militia allied with the Somali government announced on Friday that it has taken control of a significant army base in Somaliland’s southernmost area.
Months of fighting between Somaliland troops and a clan militia opposing the rule of the self-declared republic, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has never received international recognition, have taken place in the Sool region, whose capital is the disputed city of Las Anod.
Abdiqani Mohamed, a commander in the SSC militia, said AFP that his men had taken over Goojacade, the largest post of the local Somaliland army close to Las Anod.
“We have launched an organised major attack on the main base of the Somaliland army early this morning. We have taken control of all the military bases they had outside Las Anod, including the main Goojacade base,” Mohamed said.
“There are casualties on both sides,” he said, adding that his men had captured weapons and taken an unspecified number of prisoners.
Fighting between the SSC and troops from the government of Somaliland broke out in the region in February, resulting in hundreds of fatalities.
Residents of Las Anod who were reached by phone reported hearing loud fights on Friday early.
Another SSC commander, Abdullahi Muhidin, said the group had also captured “several checkpoints” held by the Somaliland army.
Somaliland’s defence ministry said its troops had vacated positions to the east of the Sool region, but said its army was reorganising and preparing a counter-attack.
Las Anod is claimed by both Somaliland and neighbouring Puntland, which is an autonomous region of Somalia.
The fighting in February erupted after traditional clan leaders in the area pledged to support the central government of Somalia in Mogadishu and urged the breakaway Somaliland authorities to withdraw their troops.
