Eritrea is fueling Somaliland-Puntland war, official says

Bosaso, Somalia 24 April 2007 - The vice president of the Puntland administration in northern Somalia accused the African nation of Eritrea on Tuesday of fomenting trouble between them and with their Somali neighbors to the west.

Hassan Dahir Afqura, the acting Puntland president, said at a press conference in the Red Sea port city of Bossaso that authorities in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland were planning to forcefully enter peaceful regions contested with Puntland.

The Puntland vice president went on the offensive against recent comments allegedly made by Ahmed Yasin, the vice president of Somaliland who is currently visiting the disputed Sanaag region.

According to VP Afqura, the Somaliland vice president told a crowd in Erigavo, capital of Sanaag, that his administration would reach as far as the major highway connecting Bossaso to the southern Puntland town of Galkayo.

“Foreign countries are involved in fuelling the conflict…especially Eritrea,” Vice President Afqura said during his press conference.

He said that Eritrea and Somaliland want to destabilize Puntland, since the region is the home of Somali President Abdillahi Yusuf, whose government is battling an insurgency in the capital, Mogadishu.

Somaliland and Puntland both claim ownership of Sanaag and Sool regions for different reasons. The two sub-states battled over their unmarked border several times in recent years, with the most recent flare up of violence occurring in the Sanaag town of Dhahar last week.

According to local press, Vice President Yasin denied the accusation that Somaliland wants to take over the disputed regions by military force.

“Even if we are refused [by locals] and forced to fight, we will retreat,” one local paper quoted the Somaliland vice president as saying.

Eritrea has been accused by the U.S., Ethiopian and Somali governments of supporting the Islamic Courts, who were dislodged from power by Ethiopian troops over the New Year.

Source: Garowe Online