Hargeysa, Somaliland, July 12, 2008 (SL Times) – The Somaliland capital Hargeysa is calm again following last Monday's rioting which erupted in the southern part of the town.
Three people were killed and 11 wounded after security forces fired live ammunition against hundreds of youths who went to the streets to protest against a government decision to remove a water drilling rig from a site near the Hargeysa airport to a new location in the western part of the country.
The rig which belongs to the United Arab Emirates ' Red Crescent was brought into the country only last month. Somaliland leader Dahir Riyale boastfully announced after the equipment arrived that southern Hargeysa would no longer have water problems.
So far the drilling tests conducted have not been successful. But the community was angered by the sudden government decision to move the rig from the drilling area to a house in Hargeysa.
Protestors insisted that the equipment is not moved until water has been struck.
Southern Hargeysa has been experiencing severe water shortages.
The rioting, the worst Somaliland has witnessed in over a decade, went for 2 days before subsiding on Wednesday afternoon.
So far the rig remains in Hargeysa and the government has shown no plans to moving it somewhere else.
