At least 34 people were killed in clashes between soldiers and anti-government fighters in a disputed town in Somalia's northern breakaway region of Somaliland on Monday, doctors and officials said.
The region's government said on Twitter armed men attacked army bases and state offices in Laascaanood early in the morning. It accused unnamed "traditional leaders" there of recruiting the attackers, and said it had thwarted the assault.
There was no immediate comment from any other side in the violence in the town - where the regional government has been battling groups that reject its authority - and no independent confirmation of who started the fighting.
