OCHA says Qandal fighting displaced 25700 people

UN body has said displaced over 25, 700 people have been displaced in the heavy fighting between pro-Islamic State (IS) militants and Somalia’s Puntland state forces for the control of the port town of Qandala.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday a majority of the displaced were women, children and the elderly.

OCHA noted that majority of those of displaced moved to surrounding villages, while others have sought refuge in Bossaso, which lies 75 kilometers from Qandala.

“Humanitarian partners and local authorities are concerned that the situation will deteriorate further if the displacement becomes protracted,” the OCHA said in its report.

The OCHA said some 3,000 people had been newly displaced since December 3.

It also said all humanitarian activities in the area had been suspended.

The forces of semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland backed by Somali National Army retook control of the strategic coastal town of Qandala which has been under fighters who had declared allegiance to Islamic State for a month

The pro-IS militants captured Qandala in November, marking the first major assault by the group which is trying to make its foothold on the Horn of Africa country.

Led by Abdulkadir Mumin, a preacher formerly based in Britain, the pro-IS group split from Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaida-linked Islamist group that has been battling the Somali government for a decade in October 2015.

Qandala is located in Somalia’s northern region of Barri and it is an ancient city which has been under control of Daesh since October this year.