Thieves use cat to trigger Somaliland stampede

Thieves caused chaos outside a Somaliland mosque late on Thursday when they took advantage of a power cut to throw a stray cat into the crowd, triggering a stampede so they could rob worshippers.

Large screens had been set up outside Hargeisa's packed Ali Matan Mosque so thousands of people could watch a sermon by Sheikh Moustafa Hagi Ismael Hassan, one of the Horn of Africa country's most senior Muslim clerics.

But when a short circuit cast the downtown area into darkness, the sheikh said gangsters hurled a feral cat into the centre of the crowd, causing a commotion. During the stampede, the robbers grabbed mobile phones and money.

"A number of people were wounded, most of them beggars," Hassan told said. "I've sent them to hospital for treatment."