At least two people confirmed dead while 40 others were wounded after local residents in Buroa took to the streets yesterday. People staged the demonstrations after they were furious over news saying that soldiers that Somaliland gov’t captured in Lasanod fighting will be released. The protests caused loss of lives and the destruction of properties.
Togder police chief said: “Two people died while 40 others were wounded. 15 vehicles were destroyed while some of them were torched. They hurled stones. We were running to minimize the damage. More than 150 people are in police custody. We must observe peace.”
Police fired live bullets to disperse the crowd of protesters who hurled stones against the security forces. Kaah political party and human rights activists have condemned the excessive powers that the government used. A statement from Kaah said that we strongly condemn the response from the government in which it used excessive power which is not in line with the country’s constitution.
The statement said that these steps cannot be a resolution to the protests staged by the public. Buroa intellectuals and officers of the region who spoke to the media have agreed upon that the gov’t must take the responsibility of the damage caused by the demonstrations. They also called on the release of the detained people and to work together to observe peace.
They also called on the senior gov’t officials to come to the region to convince the public. A lawyer dubbed Dafac said that the protests erupted after the gov’t failed to give details of the prisoners of war that Somaliland exchanged with Puntland. He said that led the public to become suspicious that other prisoners of war will be released while there are many Somaliland soldiers who are held in captivity in Lasanod.
