The Somali diaspora in Washington, DC, protested the violence in Las Anod, where more than 150 people have been dead in three weeks of conflict.
Protesters waving the Somali flag and placards with anti-violence messages requested an end to the fighting and bombs immediately and unconditionally.
Abdirashid Mohamed Farah, one of the demonstrators, accused Somaliland’s President, Muse Bihi Abdi, of carrying out a massacre in the town and killing children, elderly, and women.
“It is illegal to murder children, seniors, or women. Somaliland’s town cannot be conquered. Five hundred thousand individuals have been forcibly relocated from Las Anod, including children and women. We will not let Muse Bihi murder innocent people “Farah stated.
The protest in Washington, DC comes after the US diplomatic mission in Somalia sought a “immediate” unconditional cease-fire in the northern Somali town of Lasanod on Thursday.
The remarks came after a mission delegation led by Chargé d’Affaires Tim Trenkle visited Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, and undertook a series of political and civil society conversations.
In Las Anod, the delegation met with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi and discussed violence.
According to the Somaliland administration, the Somaliland president and Trenkle discussed Somaliland-US engagement, Las Anod unrest, and regional security.
Las Anod is the capital of the Sool area, which, along with the Sanaag and Cayn territories, is striving to be independent of Somaliland and administered by Somalia to the south.
Since February 6, conflicts between security forces and clan elders in Las Anod, northern Somalia, have killed 150 people and injured over 600 more, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).