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

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Voting was underway Wednesday 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, a breakaway region in the northwest of Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, is holding its presidential election November 13. This self-declared republic has been de facto independent since 1991 but is not recognized by any other country.

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.

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.