Laascaanood (PP News Desk) — On the outskirts of Laascaanood district, near the former military base of Gojacadde last week locals found a cache of weapons of different calibres, ammunition, thirteen anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines and twenty hand grenades, eleven months after SSCK forces overran the base that housed more than 4,000 Somaliland Administration soldiers. The weapons and ammunition were loaded onto three mid-sized lorries.
Shortly after locals found the weapons and ammunitions buried in Goojacadde barracks, more people, oblivious to the safety concerns, flocked to the site, hoping to find additional buried arms supplies.
A former Somali lieutenant colonel told Puntland Post that Somaliland Administration forces were using Goojacadde as a temporary armoury between 2018 and 2023. “The area was off-limits to nomads and civilians and became the site to which Somaliland forces initially retreated to lay a six-month siege on Laascaanood in 2023. There may be landmines buried in the area. Authorities in Laascaanood should ask for humanitarian demining assistance. Several children died from wounds sustained from ammunitions they found. Mine awareness campaign is urgently needed,’ said the retired soldier.
© Puntland Post 2024
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