Somaliland: Twenty Killed During Five-Day Protests

Local media have reported deadly clashes between protesters and Somaliland's security forces in Laascaanood, the capital of the Sool region.

Somali news website Hiiraan Online reported on Monday that at least twenty people had been killed over five days of protests.

Somaliland's security forces have now shut off Internet and phone services in the city.

Laascaanood is located on the boundary of Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic, and Puntland, a Somali semi-autonomous province.

The demonstrators want Puntland to control their city rather than Somaliland.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the UN Mission in Somalia condemned the violence.

"International partners are concerned about the violence in Laascaanood resulting in civilian deaths and casualties," it said.

"Preventing violence and ensuring the protection of civilians is paramount. We call for calm and restraint.

"Tensions must be resolved through de-escalation and dialogue," the statement added.

Protests began last Tuesday following the killing of a politician by gunmen.

"More than 10 people were killed in Laascaanood,"  Abdirahman Iro, head of the main opposition party, Wadani, had said at a rally on Saturday.  

A large number of police were deployed in Las Anod on Saturday, and most businesses remained closed, residents told AFP.

"More than 30 people have been admitted to Las Anod hospital, including women and children, all of them with gunshot wounds and the town is still under tension," said Mohamed Suleyman, a resident of the town, told AFP on Saturday.

Somaliland, a former British province, claimed independence from Somalia in 1991, which the international world did not recognize.

Since then, this 4.5 million-person region has remained impoverished and secluded.

However, it has remained relatively stable whereas Somalia has been destroyed by decades of civil conflict and Islamist insurgency.