Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 20:29:03 +0200
Rival Somali forces set for clash
2014-06-15 14:24
Mogadishu - Rival Somali regions have sent troops into disputed flashpoint
zones in the north of the war-torn nation, Britain, the EU and the US said
on Saturday in a joint appeal for calm.
Troops from self-declared Somaliland in the northwest and soldiers from
autonomous Puntland in the northeast have moved into contested areas of the
northern Sool and Sanaag regions.
Somaliland and Puntland claim several areas in border zones including
potentially valuable oil blocks, with both sides in certain cases issuing
overlapping exploration licences.
"We call for the immediate withdrawal of armed forces from the disputed
areas of Sool and Sanaag regions, and call on all actors to refrain from
violence," read the statement from British ambassador Neil Wigan, EU envoy
Michele Cervone d'Urso and US envoy James McAnulty.
Rival forces have clashed repeatedly in the region before, a lawless area
bordering Ethiopia that does not recognise the authority of the weak central
government based far to the south in Mogadishu.
"We urge restraint and oppose the use of force," the joint statement added.
Somaliland, a former British colony, broke away from Somalia in 1991, the
year the rest of the Horn of Africa nation erupted into all-out civil war.
Puntland set up its own government in 1998, but unlike neighbouring
Somaliland, it has not declared full independence.
Hundreds of newly trained al-Shabaab fighters perform military exercises in
the Lafofe area some 18km south of Mogadishu, in Somalia. (Farah Abdi
Warsameh, AP, File)
Hundreds of newly trained al-Shabaab fighters perform military exercises in
the Lafofe area some 18km south of Mogadishu, in Somalia. (Farah Abdi
Warsameh, AP, File)
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