Premier calls displaced residents to return to Galkaayo

Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke has called on local residents who fled Galkaayo town in Central Somalia during fighting between forces loyal to Galmudug and Puntland States.

Sharmarke said on Saturday he had secured a ceasefire between two warring regional states in Somalia, two weeks after a peace deal collapsed leading to fighting that killed at least 29 people.

The statement said Sharmarke met Galmudug President Abdikarim Hussein Guled and Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and witnessed a troop pull-back from the area where they clashed, and will have a four-kilometre buffer zone.

“What happened over the last month and weeks in Galkaayo is very unfortunate. It is the responsibility of all here and absent to make sure we do not see a repeat,” Sharmarke said.

On the other hand, in a statement issued on Saturday, UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said definitive cessation of hostilities in Galkayo was essential for the return of those displaced residents to their homes, as well as for the success of efforts to resolve the underlying causes of the conflict.

The deal brokered by the UN on Friday retirerated a ceasefire in Galkayo and established a 2km-wide buffer zone between the rival state forces stationed in the town.

Galkayo is divided into two parts, northern part which is controlled by Galmudug state and the southern part administered by Puntland state.