Thursday April 20, 2023
Las Anod General Hospital and mosque: Satellite imagery from 4 March shows the main hospital in Las Anod and Salahuldin mosque. Damage is visible in imagery on the roof of the mosque and roof of a building inside the hospital compound. Ground photos from the same locations show the damage in more detail.
Mogadishu (HOL) - More than 100 people have been killed and over 600 injured, including dozens of civilians, as a result of fighting between Somaliland security forces and SCC-Khatumo local armed forces in the disputed Las Anod town, according to Amnesty International.
The organization released a report on Thursday that indicates the Somaliland security forces indiscriminately shelled the town, damaging hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Humanitarian groups have reported that between 154,000 to 203,000 people have been displaced to neighboring towns and villages, while some have crossed the border into Ethiopia and they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The worst affected are women, children, and older people.
Amnesty International has called on all parties to the conflict in Las Anod to end indiscriminate attacks, commit to protecting civilians, and respect the rules of international humanitarian law.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, stated that all parties must respect international humanitarian law, protect civilians and end indiscriminate attacks.
Chagutah also called for an independent investigation into all human rights and humanitarian law violations to ensure accountability for those responsible and reparation for victims.
From 6 February to 6 March, Amnesty International interviewed 37 people in Las Anod, including victims, victims' relatives, witnesses, doctors, and humanitarian workers. The organization also said it analyzed casualty numbers from five local hospitals in Las Anod, and reports from the media, NGOs and the Somaliland government.
"Among the civilians killed were women, children, older people with health conditions, and healthcare workers. They were mostly killed during indiscriminate attacks involving rockets, mortars, and other explosive weapons with wide area effects, which should never be used in populated areas. In dense urban settings, many unguided explosive weapons, such as the inherently inaccurate 107mm rockets, are too imprecise to distinguish between military objectives, civilians, and civilian objects. Their use in such circumstances violates the prohibition in international humanitarian law of indiscriminate attacks," the report added.
On 6 February, on the first day of fighting, a seven-year-old girl, Rayan Abdullahi Ahmed was hit and killed by a munition while inside her aunt's house in the Samalay neighborhood, in southern Las Anod.
"My daughter was buried in a mass grave with several other people who died that day," said the victim's mother.
According to witnesses, significant damage has been caused to hundreds of civilian buildings, including homes, mosques, schools and one hospital, because of indiscriminate attacks allegedly by the Somaliland forces who have been trying to take over the town by firing rockets from military bases on the eastern side of the city.
Interviewees told Amnesty International that Somaliland forces were initially based in the eastern and western outskirts of the city, while armed fighters affiliated with the Dhulbahante clan were mostly within the city. Most attacks were coming from the eastern side.
The Las Anod general hospital has been hit at least four times since the fighting started. MSF reported that the hospital was hit during fighting on 28 February, causing partial damage to the structure and bringing a stop to activities in the pediatric ward and the blood bank.
A doctor at Las Anod general hospital also told Amnesty International that the hospital's oxygen plant was damaged on 8 February and is no longer functioning, and that one of the hospital's ambulances was badly damaged on 7 February.
On 26 December 2022, unknown armed men's assassination of a Dhulbahante local politician, Abdifatah Abdullahi, in Las Anod town triggered widespread protests. Somaliland security forces responded by using excessive, including lethal force, killing and injuring dozens of protestors.
Following continued anger and widespread protests about the killings, Somaliland authorities withdrew their security forces from Las Anod. This paved the way for prominent Dhulbahante personalities including clan elders to enter the city. The elders held a consultative meeting from 28 January to 5 February. On the last day of the meeting, the delegates issued a declaration that they are not part of Somaliland's administration.
Immediately after the declaration, clashes started between Somaliland security forces and armed fighters affiliated with the Dhulbahante clan on 6 February, escalating into a situation of armed conflict. Both sides blamed each other for starting the fighting.