Overview

The city lies between Badhan

Badhan, Sanaag

Badhan or Baran is a city and district in the Sanaag region, a territory in north Eastern Somalia. In July 2007, the district became the capital city of the autonomous Maakhir region of Somalia...

 and Elaayo

Elaayo

Elaayo , also known as Elayo or Elayum, is an ancient coastal town in the northern Sanaag region of Somalia.-History:An old city, Elaayo is home to numerous archaeological sites and historic buildings, similar to those found in Las Khorey, another coastal town in Sanaag...

.

Local control is disputed between Somaliland

Somaliland

Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...

, a self-declared independent republic that is internationally recognized

Diplomatic recognition

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

 as an autonomous region of Somalia and the autonomous Puntland

Puntland

Puntland , officially the Puntland State of Somalia , is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998....

 region in northeastern Somalia.

Laako has grown since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War

The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. The conflict, which began in 1991, has caused destabilisation throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to rebel forces...

. There is a local hospital, and one primary and secondary school.