Britons urged to leave Somaliland

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Britons urged to leave Somaliland

Continue reading the main story

 

Britons urged to leave Benghazi

All British nationals in Somaliland should leave immediately because of "a specific threat to Westerners", the UK Foreign Office has said.

 

It was already advising against travel to Somalia, including Somaliland, and now says any Britons in Somaliland despite its advice should leave.

 

It says kidnapping "motivated by criminality or terrorism" remains a threat throughout Somalia.

 

Last week, a similar warning was issued for Britons to leave Libya's Benghazi.

 

"We are now aware of a specific threat to Westerners in Somaliland and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately," the Foreign Office (FCO) said in a statement.

 

It said it would not comment on the nature of the threat.

 

The FCO website warns that in the southern and central regions of Somalia "there is ongoing serious violence, dangerous levels of criminal activity and general internal insecurity".

 

It says attacks "could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers".

 

And it adds: "Following the death of Osama Bin Laden, terrorist groups operating in Somalia have made threats against Westerners and those working for Western organisations in Somalia, including Somaliland."

 

The northern territory of Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 and wants to remain separate from the rest of the country.

 

But Mogadishu wants Somaliland to be part of a single Somali state.

 

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence after the overthrow of Siad Barre - who led Somalia's last functioning national government.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Britain warns of threat in Somaliland

 

AAP January 28, 2013 1:45AM

 

BRITAIN'S Foreign Office has urged its nationals to leave the self-declared nation of Somaliland, warning of a "specific" threat against Westerners in the northern Somali region.

 

Britain had similarly warned of a "specific and imminent threat to Westerners" in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday and urged its citizens to leave, swiftly followed by Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and France.

 

The Foreign Office said it already advises against all travel to war-torn Somalia including Somaliland - a rare area of relative stability - but now urged any remaining citizens to pull out.

 

"We are now aware of a specific threat to Westerners in Somaliland, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately," the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

 

"As our travel advice continues to make clear, kidnapping for financial or political gain, motivated by criminality or terrorism, remains a threat throughout Somalia."

 

A Foreign Office spokesman declined to give an estimate of how many British citizens were currently in Somaliland.

 

"There are quite a lot of people who have dual Somali and British nationality who travel back and forward to the area, as well as a number of NGOs operating in Somaliland," he told AFP.

 

While anarchic southern Somalia has been riven by years of fighting between multiple militia forces, the former British protectorate of Somaliland has enjoyed relative peace.

 

It won independence from Britain in 1960 but days later joined with Somalia. In 1991, after years of bitter war with the government in Mogadishu, it declared independence from the rest of the country.

[Garaad Bari]

Waa bilaabatay,,, alow sahal

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Amiir godane is threatening the English:D