A roadside bomb has killed a senior Somaliland military commander and wounded two others in disputed northwestern Somali town of Las Anod in the breakaway region of Somaliland.

A Somaliland official said Colonel Osman Yussuf Nur, the regional’s infantry division commander was killed, when together with other officials, went to the scene of an earlier explosion to investigate but a remote-controlled bomb went off shortly, killing Yussuf on the spot while injuring two others.

Reports said Somaliland’s security forces opened fire on the crowd that gathered to witnesses the explosion, injuring innocent civilians. Subsequently, operations carried out by the security forces nabbed at least 25 people in connection with the explosion.

No group has claimed responsibility of the explosion.

This comes at the wake of fresh territorial dispute over the Somali regions of Sool, Cayn and Sanaag between breakaway Somaliland and its neighbouring semi-autonomous region of Puntland.

In recent past, the two regions fought over the control of the town, which is placed in a strategic position along trade routes in northwestern Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE