Las Anod (Somali: Laascaanood; Arabic: لاسعانود) is the administrative capital of the Sool region, currently controlled by Khatumo State forces aligned with Somalia.

[8] Until now Somaliland governs Las Anod with little legitimacy or popularity, while regular unknown assassinations have deteriorated the security situation.

It cannot impose the full tax code on the Dhulbahante territories because that would only reinforce local people’s existing grievances vis-à-vis Somaliland.

They fought for two hours, the enemy losing many men killed and wounded, the exact number not being known; the enemy dragged their wounded and dead away.The motive for this Dervish development was said by Roman Loimeier as caused by how the Dhulbahante had not signed colonial protective treaties (since the Italians considered part of the Dhulbahante as subjects of the Italian-protected Sultan of the Majeerteen[12]), combined with the fear, agitation and anxiety from contemporaneous yearly expedition-raids by marauding Menelik II armies and their pillaging.

[14] The United Somali Party was founded in Las Anod with the intention of forming a non-Isaaq axis, due to tensions deriving from the instability in 1954 and 1955.

With Las Anod as its seat, Garad Ali's USP party formed a coalition consisting of the Warsangeli, Gadabuursi and Dhulbahante clans.

In the previous six years, Ali's father Garad Farah, was in self-induced exile in Mogadishu: Ali Gerad Jama, the university – educated son of the Gerad ( chief ) Jama Farah ( who went into voluntary exile in Mogadiscio from 1952 to 1958 as a result of his conflict with the British administration ) provided the main drive behind the party.

[16]On October 15, 1969, whilst paying a visit to the city, Somali President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke was shot dead by one of his own bodyguards.

[28] On February 6, a committee composed of town leaders and traditional elders appointed to deliberate on the political future of the region attempted to publicly announce its intention to reject Somaliland and form a Federal Republic of Somalia under the name SSC-Khaatumo.

[33] Nicholas Delaunay, director of the International Crisis Group's East and Southern Africa Project, said Somaliland has provided no concrete evidence of Al-Shabaab's involvement and that deeper issues behind the conflict must be addressed quickly.

"[36] On February 26, Somaliland's Foreign Minister, Essa Kayd, announced the final withdrawal of troops from the front lines in Las Anod to designated military units in order to minimize civilian impact.

[41] On March 8, Somaliland military commander Nuh Ismail Tani announced in a media interview, "We have the right and the ability to retake Las Anod, but we are abiding by the government ceasefire agreement.

[49] Hoehne explains: Members of the Darod clan-family in eastern Somaliland, in the regions Sool and Sanaag, early on took a stand against secession.

As a result, Somaliland has largely become a ‘mono-clan state’ today: all important offices in the country are held by members of the most populous Isaaq clan-family.

[48] The Crisis Group reports: The representation of some clans also suffered as a result of dismal turnout in the east, where popular acceptance of rule by Somaliland authorities remains extremely uneven.

The eastern parts of the Sool and Sanaag regions, as well as the district of Buuhoodle in Togdheer, are primarily inhabited by the Dhulbahante and Warsangali sub-clans of the Darod clan.

The city is almost surrounded by hills and has considerable water resources, the latter of which makes it a prime destination for peoples from other parts of generally arid regions within Somaliland as well as from neighboring countries such as Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia [citation needed].

[51] According to a recent research report, the Berbera and Bosaso ports are the main sources of commodities that arrive in Las Anod: Lasanod has seen an increase in trade relations with the ‘east’ (Puntland) and the ‘north- west’ (Somaliland) since the early 1990s.39 Interviewees estimated that some 80 per cent of commodities in the city originate from either Berbera or Bossaso ports.