As Scared Residents Desert the Puntland controlled Town in the east of Somaliland as Mogadishu based MPs vow forceful removal of Gen Shire and his militiamen
By: Yusuf M Hasan
TALEEH (Somalilandsun) – Militias armed by Puntland are in control of Taleeh after effecting A Brutal attack on residents of the town in Sool region.
Following the attack by clan militias led by the Vice president of the Somalia regional administration of Puntland General Abdisamad Ali Shire seven civilians were brutally butchered and their grotesquely mutilated corpse left for eagles to feed on.
Although reports indicate that a large number of citizens caught unawares by the attackers and received minor injuries during the me3rciless attack, nine of the grievously injured were rushed to the Sool Regional Hospital in Las Anod town where medical and regional staff informs that their situation is stabilizing.
While the Somaliland authorities are yet to respond either militarily or issue an official statement the reasons behind the incursion by Puntland armed militias and military personnel under the leadership of Gen Shire who is originally from the area but with anti-Somaliland tenets thence allegiance to the greater Somalia’s notion is obviously related to the advancement of the objectives of creation of a purported Khatumo state.
Meanwhile our sources in Taleeh inform that residents of the town mostly wailing women are escaping in large columns on foot headed towards the Sool regional capital of Las Anod where Somaliland administration officials are providing shelter and foods though at insufficient quantities owing to the overwhelming need.
On the other hand parliamentarians in Mogadishu have condemned the Puntland attack in Taleeh terming it a violation of human rights thus not acceptable. Vowing to pursue the removal of Gen Shire and his militiamen from the area the spokesperson of the MPs dubbed G11 Khatumo said that the removal shall be effected through any means possible be it armed or otherwise.
While the Somaliland administration desirous of peace continues to be dormant in its reaction towards regular incursions by Puntland under the guise of Dulbahante clan militias citizens from the yet to be internationally recognized country are anxious for a once and for all conclusion to the Khatumo disturbances especially by Military might of force.
The Proposed Khatumo state is purportedly to be hived off from parts of Somaliland’s eastern Region of Sool where the Dulbahante clan predominates.
Somaliland withdrew from its 1960b voluntary union with Somalia in 1991 following a brutal civil war in the 1980’s that ensued after forces loyal to then dictator Mohamed Siad Barre massacred over 60,000 civilians.
As its former partner in union Somalia remains in turmoil with every clan claiming creation of an administrative region and the internationally fronted Federal government just barely, managing to hold on to the capital Mogadishu courtesy of African Union Forces, Somaliland though unrecognized has become synonymous as a bastion of peace and democracy in the turbulent Horn region.
