The inter-communal fighting broke out following a dispute among two pastoralist communities over the construction of a water reservoir (Berkad in Somali).

Members of one community wanted to establish the Berkad while members of the other community opposed the idea on the ground that it would further damage the area’s fragile environmental.

About 40 people were believed to have been killed while scours got injured as a result of the clashes.

The fighting began with a small-scale skirmish that occurred last week but later escalated in ferocity.

Traditional elders from neighboring communities intervened calling on both sides to stop the fighting.

Suldan Cabdi Ali Shagax accompanied by the minister of Emergency Interventions for Ethiopia ’s Somali state was in hand. So were hundreds of traditional leaders and experienced peace activists from Somaliland .

Ethiopian federal security forces established a buffer zone as opposing militia withdrew for a distance of 12km to the east and west of the scene of the fighting.

Though initially attempts to broker a ceasefire encountered setbacks, however by Thursday the warring groups accepted a ceasefire agreement. Until Friday, the agreement seemed holding ground.

Source: Somaliland Times

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