Unidentified gunmen have shot dead a judge in northern Somali town of Las Anod, the provincial capital of disputed Sool region in Somaliland.

Saleban Jama Dhere, who was the chief judge of Las Anod court, was shot several times by men armed with pistols near his house late on Sunday in the south of the town.

Abdullahi Hirsi Binow, one of the town’s elders told Radio Garowe that the killing was a terror act carried out by unknown assailants.

 1er novembre 2009

Mohamed Yonis, forumicanada

Le Somaliland s’est réparé de la Somalie en 1991 mais la sécession est devenue un cauchemar. En effet, les anciens alliés de Syad Barré dirigent Hargeisa et les meurtres, les pillages, vol à main armée, kidnapping ainsi que le viol sont devenus les armes de guerre de l’organisation criminelle de Dahir Riyaale Kahin.

The peacemaker said that the troops captured more than 20 people during their operations in the town accusing them that they were those who behind the explosion targeted to the highest officials of Sol administration which is part of Somaliland.

More people in Las Anod town had annoyed yesterday's land mine explosion which left more lives of high ranking officials in the region and there had been hundreds of irritated teenagers with women and children those were burning tires in the streets of the town.

Most of the demonstrators were against the operations of the police forces of Somaliland and it comes after big explosion that caused more casualties in the town on Sunday.

At least two police officers have been killed and three others were wounded in a bomb explosion in the disputed northwestern Somali town of Las Anod, the capital of Sool, in the break-away republic of Somaliland.

The blast occurred on Monday morning when the police officers picked up a remote controlled bomb hidden near a mosque in the town, killing the two officers on the spot.

The three injured officers were transferred to a hospital in Burao, the second largest northwestern town of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland.

The explosion comes days after a senior commander in Sool region warned of assassination plots targeted on him and other top officials, blaming it on the regions Police commandant.

The town is disputed by the Somaliland and its neighboring semi-autonomous state of Puntland and has been witnessing rampant insecurity in the recent past.

The government of Somalia's Puntland state has strongly condemned yesterday's deadly riot in the disputed town of Las Anod, the capital of Sool region where at least two people were killed.

The demonstration was staged against the detention of some of the town's Islamic teachers by the security forces of the unrecognized republic of Somaliland, a separatist region in northwest Somalia.

According to witnesses, the police fired at the crowd that composed of students, teachers and parents, resulting the death and injuries of innocent civilians.

Puntland's Information Ministry said in a statement that the act was symbolic of the "barbaric regime" of Somaliland President Dahir Riyale, terming it as against the human rights of the natives.

"The government of Puntland strongly condemns and accuse Riyale's administration of suppression against the inhabitants of Las Anod. It was inhumane and gross violation of human rights what the police did to the innocent civilians," read the statement.

Islam, Somalia and good neighborliness at all, while urging the human rights watchdogs and international parties to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile the residents of Las Anod have started vacating the town for fear of suppression from the Somaliland security forces.

According to Abdirahman Dahir Gas, a local elder who spoke with Garowe Online while in Tuka-Raq village east of Las Anod, the residents expressed concerns over the deteriorating security situation in the town.

Palestine. Las Anod is under the brutal occupation of Somaliland. They (Somaliland) treat us mercilessly with death and destruction," he said while urging Puntland and its people not to give up on Las Anod.

Las Anod is strategically located along trade routes in northwestern Somalia disputed between Puntland and self-declared republic of Somaliland.

Since its takeover by Somaliland in 2007, the town has not enjoyed peace with residents opposing the new ruler. 

In January, there was a series of unexplained bombings that targeted Somaliland police and government officials in Las Anod.

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally.