Protest against the violence in Laascaanood

Demonstrators gather in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on February 19, 2023 to protest the violence in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland. Police and the military have been battling the protesters in Laascaanood, a town in Somaliland's east which is disputed between Somaliland and neighbouring Puntland, one of Somalia's semi-autonomous regions. Protestors claim the Somaliland army is massacring civilians and committing genocide and are calling for the international community to intervene to prevent more civilians from dying and stop the indiscriminate shelling of Laascaanood. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has grappled with three decades of civil war.