Somaliland officials urged foreign aid workers and UN staff to advise them of their travel plans, as they tried to tighten security in the area following a spate of killings. Over the past six weeks, four international aid workers have been murdered in Somalia (three of them in Somaliland). 

Local police lacked sufficient transport, trained personnel and communications equipment to provide reasonable protection to the foreigners. The week before, as part of a security crackdown after the murder of a British couple on October 20, Somaliland ordered all foreigners without permits to leave within 45 days. - Adam Geibel