The Somaliland People’s Party (SPP) chairman, Suleiman Haglotosiye, has stated that his party is withdrawing from Somaliland politics due to the ongoing violence in the disputed town of Las Anod.
The SPP is a relatively recent political party, created in January 2022 primarily to serve the interests of Boocame and Buuhoodle residents.
Speaking to Somali American TV in Buhoodle, the chairman said that the Somaliland government had violated human rights in the town. Therefore they cannot be part of the Somaliland system.
“I am a politician for my people, and I cannot be a politician in a place where my people are being massacred. So I am clearly declaring here that we have left Somaliland politics entirely after witnessing the brutality and cruelty,” Haglotosiye stated.
Haglotosiye accused the Somaliland government of impeding peace efforts by using military force against the people. Haglotosiye is one of the founders of the SSC movement and a former health minister in Somaliland. In 2009, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Puntland presidency.
On the other hand, the Somaliland Ministry of Defense has stated that it has received intelligence reports indicating that Puntland forces, including PSF and Puntland Maritime Police Forces (PMPF), are planning an attack on Somaliland forces in the coming days.
The Ministry threatened to defend itself, but since the beginning of the ongoing fighting in Las Anod, Somaliland has always accused Puntland of being involved in the fighting.
During the upsurge of violence on Tuesday, at least one person was killed, and several were injured when the main hospital in the disputed town of Las Anod came under mortar fire. Dr. Ahmed Abdi reported that four shells struck the hospital, and some of the eight people wounded were in critical condition.
Two of the hospital’s three ambulances were destroyed, and among the wounded were patients recovering from earlier fighting that had killed dozens of people. The hospital also faces a shortage of drugs, according to the doctor.
