The fighting between the Somaliland forces and local residents has continued for the fourth day in Las Anod, the capital of Sool region, witnesses said.

The two sides clashed again on Thursday morning after the SSC troops attacked Somaliland army base in Qaaja-Adde area, which lies about 5 kilometers east of the city.

"The sound of artillery and various types of weapons can be heard from around the city and residents mostly fled from their houses to the safer places," said a villager by phone.

The death toll still rises with the medical facilities in Las Anod are coping with the increasing number of the wounded people amid shortage of medicines and doctors.

The death toll from the 4 day battle rose to at least 75 people with the medics reporting that most of the casualties resulted from the bombardments by Somaliland troops.

The international community and Somali government called for an immediate end to the bloodshed and urged both sides to opt for dialogue instead of killing each other aimlessly.

Somaliland withdrew its forces from the city in early January, under pressure from the international community and the city's residents who waged an uprising against Hargeisa administration.

On Tuesday, Somalia's president Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud called for calm, urging Somaliland to negotiate with traditional elders from Sool region to resolve Las Anod crisis.

For the past 15 years, the city is disputed between Somaliland and Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, but the local elders from the Dhulbahante clan have rejected both claims, declaring they intended to establish a new state within federal Somalia, and urging Somaliland's forces to leave the region.