Fighting broke out today between rival Somali territories Puntland and Somaliland after weeks of growing tension sparked by the election of a former Puntland warlord as Somalia's new president.
"The situation is 100 per cent dangerous and precarious," Puntland state President Mr Mohamed Abdi Hashi said in a letter to Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Fighters from the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland fought forces from Puntland's regional administration at the village of Adi-Addeye, about 30 km (20 miles) north of Las Anod, a flashpoint during previous flare-ups between the two armies. Both sides accused the other of starting the battle.
Mr Yusuf, in a letter sent to neighbouring states and the United Nations today, said Puntland told him "authorities of Somaliland are waging an all-out war.
"Yusuf wrote there were reports of "gross casualties," but gave no details.
"The break of war at this critical stage undermines our efforts and achievements toward Somali reconciliation and state formation," he wrote.