The journalists who came from Bosaso, Galkayo and Beledweyene were accused of illegally entering Somaliland administered areas, according to the area police boss Ali Ismail who spoke to the local media.

Ismail said the journalists did not have legal permits to allow them enter Somaliland in order for them to attend the seminar in Hargeisa.

He added they will only be released if they will return to where they came from.

Somaliland has unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of Somalia after the fall of Somalia’s central government in early 1990s but is still internationally recognized as part of Somalia.