Hargeysa (PP News Desk) — The Speaker of Somaliland Parliament Abdirizaq Khalif Ahmed has urged Somaliland government to withdraw its troops from Lasanod. “The response of Somaliland government to targeted assassinations was appalling. Somaliland government used force to suppress people expressing genuine concerns about assassinations. In addition, the Somaliland government put telecommunications facilities out of service. The government discontinued electronic money platforms and switched off the electricity grid at a time doctors were operating on people wounded by soldiers” said Khalif.
He accused Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi of failing to take responsibility for security failures that resulted in targeted assassinations in Lasanod. “Instead of owning up to failures the Somaliland government authorised the military to quel demonstrations. I urge Somaliland government to withdraw its troops from Lasanod” the Speaker of the Somaliland Parliament said.
On Saturday the influential traditional leader of Lasanod Garad Jama Garad Ismail denounced “the massacre of citizens in Lasanod” and called for Somaliland government to pull its troops out of Sool altogether. Demonstrations erupted in Lasanod last week after the assassination of a local politician in West Lasanod.
No group has ever claimed responsibility for political assassinations that forced Somaliland government to rely on rival local militias. Assassins target militia members, local councillors and politicians who are loyal to the Somaliland government.
Khalif, an MP from Lasanod, is the only politician from Sool who criticised Somaliland government for atrocities committed in Lasanod by Somaliland troops.
© Puntland Post, 2023
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