Mogadishu (SD) – The Federal Government of Somalia has canceled a ceremony in Mogadishu marking the 30th anniversary of Somaliland independence.
Mogadishu security forces reportedly stopped a ceremony held at a Hotel near Lido beach commemorating 18th May in Mogadishu Somalia.
Security forces also confiscated Somaliland flags from the crowd who were in the vicinity of the hotel where the event was to take place.
Pictures of the Somali security forces’ operation stopping the planned May 18th celebrations in Mogadishu show forcibly removing the flags and throwing them to the ground.
Some participants including women told local media, that they were ordered to take off their clothes with the colors of the Somaliland flag, violation of Somali and in Islamic culture.
The incident was widely circulated and condemned on Somali social networking sites.
Somaliland is known for its anti-flag actions, with several arrests of Somalia flag bearers.
Somalia denies Somaliland’s independence and the fact that the two countries subsequently united after their independence from Britain and Italy in 1960.
The news comes just a day after Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi has accused the leaders of the Federal Government of Somalia of being their number one enemy.
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