monstersandcritics.com

Dec 14, 2011, 18:34 GMT

Mogadishu - Leaders from one of Somalia's semi-autonomous regions said on Wednesday they were ready to fight another federal state in the war-torn country and called for soldiers to prepare their arms.
The people in Puntland 'must be ready to fight against the harsh elements from southern Galkayo, who decided to kill or kidnap our elders, clerics, educated people and the like,' Mohamed Yusuf Jama, a regional governor, told reporters in northern Galkayo.
Tensions have been running high since September in Galkayo, a city in central Somalia divided between the states of Puntland in the north and Galmudug to the south. Dozens, including civilians, have been killed in clashes.
Civilians in the region say they fear heavy fighting could erupt in the coming days, deteriorating the situation in parts of Somalia that have relative stability.
Two foreign aid workers with the Danish Refugee Council were kidnapped from Galkayo this year and remain in captivity. They were planning on carrying out demining operations, but the work has been put on hold.
Jama said militias from southern Galkayo had kidnapped a young boy from the part controlled by Puntland on Tuesday.
Unlike Somaliland to the north, which seeks sovereignty, the two regions see themselves as federal states within Somalia, and support the transitional government in Mogadishu.
About a third of Somalia's population lives in Puntland, and the area is also a launching platform for pirates who attack vessels in the Indian Ocean.
The weak federal government, backed by African Union peacekeepers, continues to wage war against the radical Islamist militia al-Shabaab, which controls vast swaths of territory in the south of the country.
Instability elsewhere in Somalia could allow al-Shabaab to find new safe havens. The group, which has ties to al-Qaeda, lost its last strongholds in Mogadishu in August.