Street FIGHT:Conflict
8 Killed in Galkayo Clan Fight
Curfew in Town After More Puntland Unrest
Eight people were killed and many others wounded during clashes between two Darod sub-clans in the town of Galkayo, the latest episode in growing violence that is threatening the stability of the relatively peaceful autonomous region of Puntland.
The fighting began Wednesday when unknown gunmen killed Sheikh Ibrahim, a teacher at a Koranic school. Sources say militia killed local traders in revenge. Puntland forces joined the fighting when a security officer was killed during the clashes.
“I saw the body of Sheikh Ibrahim ... minutes later other militias attacked a local trader,” Qadro Mahmoud, a Galkayo resident, told Somalia Report.
An overnight curfew was placed on the town to calm the situation.
Galkayo and Bosaso have been the scenes of a growing campaign of assassinations, which often lead to reprisal attacks. Clashes between clans, criminal group actions and destabilization attempts by militant Islamist group al-Shabaab have been blamed for the unrest.