GAALKACYO (HORN OBSERVER) - At least 700 including women, children and old people were resettled in northern Gaalkacyo town of Puntland state bare two days after Somaliland launched operation to expel hundreds of people hailing from southern Somalia.
Interior Minister Mohamed Dhaban'ad said at least 758 people among them men women and children had received shelter, food and medical supplies.

The Muse Bihi administration accused the evictees most of whom originate from South West state of fueling insecurity in the area. However, sources said business rivalry may have led to the eviction.


The move was condemned by Somali government saying it was deeply saddened by the deportation of Somalis in Las Anod and called on the people of Las Anod to preserve their Somali identity.

Somali Minister of Information Osman Abukar Dubbe said that the Somaliland authorities have violated cultural traditions.

"The ongoing deportation of Somalis from Las-anod saddens me. The people of Las Anod have always had a tradition of hospitality and Somaliness. I hope they will preserve that good tradition, and the Somali people around them can feel safe," said Dubbe.

Somaliland had declared to have seceded from the rest of Somalia in 1991 after the collapsed of Somalia’s central government led by the then president Mohamed Siyad Barre.