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Hargeysa, April 8, 2009 –
Hundreds of families in Somaliland have fled inter-clan fighting in the
mid-west Satiile area in Gabiley region, officials said.
The fighting, the second flare-up in three months, started on 7 April
after a group of men drove into Satiile settlement area and shot dead a
local farmer and wounded his brother.
Ahmed-Bare Sa’id Kibar, a village elder in Satiile, said at least 200
families had fled from Xar-Makahiil, Dacawalay, Laaca, Maslayaha,
Jaldhaabta and Satiile farmland settlements to Adado Dhaadheeray,
Kalabaid. Some of the families had fled to Gabiley, the region's
capital, he added.
Elabe Mohamoud Hufane, the deputy mayor of Dilla District in Awdal
region, said: "We received reports mid-morning yesterday that a man,
identified as Ahmed Yasin Kule, had been shot dead on his farm while his
brother survived and managed to flee.
"We went there to calm the situation with the district police; we were
told the men who shot dead Ahmed Yasin were from Elberdale area in the
north, where a land-based conflict had started some time ago."
In late February, two men were shot dead following inter-clan fighting
between the Reer Hared of Gabiley region and the Reer Nour of Awdal
region. The conflict dates back to 1998 when the clans confronted each
other over the war between the Somali National Movement (Somaliland's
liberation organisation in 1981-1991) and the army, which was loyal to
the late Mohamed Siyad Barre, then Somali president. At the time, the
Reer Nour supported Barre while Reer Hared supported the liberation
movement.
Over the past two decades, attempts to reconcile the two were made and a
ceasefire agreed but the issue has since transformed into a land
conflict, focusing on a farming development project founded by Sheikh
Muhumed Rage in the late 1950s.
After the February clashes, a committee from Somaliland's upper house of
parliament, the Guurti, toured the region. The committee was also in the
area when the latest clashes erupted, according to Hufane.
"We met several dozen families fleeing to Dilla District, and we spoke
to them urging them not to flee but they went ahead saying they feared
for their security," Hufane said.
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Source: IRIN
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