Garowe Online (Garowe)
24 June 2009
Garowe — Mr. Warsame Abdi "Sefta Bananka," Puntland's information minister, told a Wednesday press conference in the Puntland capital of Garowe that the Somali interim government has the "right" to request foreign military assistance.
Earlier this week, Somali government officials in Mogadishu asked neighboring countries to send troops to help the government fight against insurgents.
"As we have stated before, Puntland calls for the fighting that is to the deaths and displacement of civilians to stop immediately," the Information Minister said.
He noted that the ongoing insurgency in Mogadishu and other parts of south-central Somalia is worsening a humanitarian crisis, adding that thousands of families are facing food and water shortages.
"Mostly, civilians are killed in the conflict...even now, there are many civilians recovering from war wounds," Information Minister Sefta Bananka added.
He described the humanitarian situation as "grave" and noted that displaced civilians are now living in terrible conditions.
Puntland is located in northeastern Somalia and has been relatively stable since the 1990s. The region has a functioning government with security forces and held a peaceful election in January 2009.
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