Garowe Online (Garowe)
7 July 2008
Hundreds of protestors burned tires and blocked roads in the capital of Somalia's breakaway republic of Somaliland, Radio Garowe reported Monday.
The protestors, mostly young men, walked in hordes and started from the southern neighborhoods of Hargeisa, Somalia's second-largest city and the seat of power for Somaliland's separatist government.
Somaliland police attempted to disperse crowds by firing bullets into the air, but witnesses said the protestors continued their march towards downtown, where government offices are located.
Soldiers aboard armored vehicles later joined the police effort to stop the protestors, leading to a number of deaths.
One protestor told Radio Garowe that locals were angered by the Somaliland administration's to remove a water rig in south Hargeisa.
According to local speculation, the rig will be taken to Awdal, the home region of Somaliland leader Dahir Riyale.
Mohamed Dubad, Somaliland's chief of police, told the media that 2 civilians were killed and 5 wounded, while 9 police officers sufferend injuries during the protest which ended in the afternoon.
But local newspapers reported a death toll of 3 people and more than 10 wounded civilians, citing information from Hargeisa hospitals.
The Somaliland regions, in northwestern Somalia, have enjoyed a stable government in the past decade while much of south Somalia remains embroiled in domestic armed conflicts and foreign military interventions since the collapse of the central government in 1991.
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