The President of Somaliland has issued a directive pardoning hundreds of prisoners.
President Muse Bihi Abdi pardoned 377 prisoners in an edict issued on July 6.
Prisoners jailed over minor crimes were the primary beneficiaries of the presidential pardon.
Bihi issues the presidential pardon once every lunar year.
He did it on the eve of the new lunar year of the Islamic Calendar 1446.
The amnesty does not apply to those on capital punishments.
Anyone who is in a Somaliland prison over civil offenses does not receive the amnesty either.