One of Somaliland’s main hospitals attacked amid fighting between government forces, militias | News24

Las Anod Hospital in Somaliland was hit during fighting between government forces and militias.

• The Las Anod hospital in Somaliland has been attacked four times in three weeks during fighting between government forces and militias.
• As fighting escalates, Doctors Without Borders and other health workers fear for their safety.
• On the other hand, there is a shortage of blood in the dilapidated hospital.

One of the main referral hospitals in breakaway Somaliland was hit for the fourth time in three weeks during fighting between government forces and militias.

The main hospital in Las Anods, the administrative capital of the region of Seoul, is run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

MSF’s country representative for Somaliland and Somalia, Joanne Baselink, said the hospital was attacked and infrastructure destroyed during “indiscriminate fighting”, affecting operations.

“This time, it [the attack] Partial damage was done to the structure and activities in the pediatric ward and blood bank were suspended.”

The destruction of the children’s section of the hospital poses a major threat to the health needs of infants and children.

There is a high demand for blood in the emergency room, a part of the hospital that was fully operational but has a shortage as more casualties are brought in.

Baselink said:

Hospital staff fear for their lives and have nowhere to hide as the security situation worsens across Somaliland.

“Staff and colleagues tell me they are scared to be in the hospital, they can only pray as they cannot protect themselves as there is hardly any safe place to hide and the structure is safe from these indiscriminate attacks,” he said. Not there.”

MSF is caught in the middle as it provides healthcare to both sides of the conflict.

Baselink said:

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 and declared its independence.

However, the sovereignty of Somaliland is not recognized internationally.

Until 1960, it was a British protectorate, and it became independent for five days, then it was merged with Somalia, which was then under Italian rule.

Calls for independence grew over the years and a rebel group, the Somali National Movement (SNM), was founded in the 1980s, declaring independence in 1991 when Somalia’s military dictator, Siad Barre, was ousted.

Barre’s forces were behind the ethnic cleansing that led to thousands of deaths during a civil war fueled by ethnicity and tribalism.

read | At least 34 killed in clashes in Somalia’s breakaway northern region

During the 1990s, the SNM drafted a new constitution for Somaliland, which was endorsed by a public referendum in 2001.

Those pushing for recognition of Somaliland argue that the region was ethnically and culturally distinct from Somalia.

It has the makings of an independent country, with its currency, passport, military and elections overseen by the European Union.

Compared to Somalia, it has seen fewer terrorist attacks since 2008.

But among African Union (AU) states, recognizing Somaliland would give other separatist movements a reason to seek independence.

The issue is already known as the deadliest conflict of the 21st century in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hans Seidel Foundation. Stories produced by the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements contained herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hans Seidel Foundation.