MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Ethiopia’s notorious Liyu Police, a feared paramilitary force from the Somali region, killed at least 40 civilians in Da’woley, a town straddling on the border with Somaliland, prompting widespread condemnation from Hargeisa, which denounced the attack as a heinous “massacre” and called for immediate accountability.
The Liyu Police, infamous for their brutality and reviled across border areas inhabited by clans that make up the majority of Somaliland’s population, launched a relentless, coordinated assault on Da’woley town Wednesday. Eyewitnesses reported indiscriminate shelling of civilian neighborhoods and the harrowing, targeted execution of civilians, including children, at point-blank range.
A video shared by Somaliland-based MM Somali TV showed 40 lifeless bodies, draped in white shrouds, solemnly lined up for Janazah prayer in Balligubadle, a town on the Somaliland side of the border, where the victims were laid to rest Thursday morning.
Dozens of injured civilians, including children, women, and the elderly, were quickly transported to hospitals in Hargeisa. Meanwhile, a separate atrocity unfolded as many elders, who had come to Da’woley to mediate the escalating conflict, were abducted by the Liyu Police.
The violence erupted days after several Liyu Police officers were killed by residents defending the town from an earlier attack. Despite a temporary agreement brokered by regional officials and elders, which called for the withdrawal of clan militias to de-escalate tensions, authorities reneged on their commitment and launched a full-scale assault on the defenseless town Thursday, according to local sources. Video footage revealed widespread destruction, with large portions of the town reduced to smoldering ruins and looted.
Meanwhile, high-level talks between officials from Ethiopia’s Somali region and Somaliland began Thursday on the Ethiopian side of the border, focusing on the recent violence and efforts to negotiate a lasting resolution to the escalating conflict in the border town of Da’woley, according to Somaliland authorities.
