Voters in Somaliland went to the polls on Wednesday amid the growing possibility of the region being recognized as an independent state.

Voting is underway in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland in a key presidential election that was delayed for two years and comes as the Horn of Africa region is experiencing political tension

Somaliland: President Muse Bihi and challenger Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi vote as the breakaway region holds presidential elections. The northwest Somalia territory unilaterally declared independence in 1991 but has yet to be recognized by any country.

Voters in Somaliland head to the polls on Wednesday to choose a president at a time when the breakaway Somali region sees international recognition within reach after three decades of de facto self-rule.

Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia at the centre of a diplomatic storm, holds a presidential election on Wednesday at a tense moment in the Horn of Africa.