What seemed like a local protest over perceived marginalisation has now ballooned to become a hot potato even for the federal government of Somalia to handle.
And on Friday last week, a local militia that had been leading the uprising against Somaliland forces declared victory. Known as SSC Khatumo, the uprising led by Abdulkadir Ahmed Aw-Ali Firdhiye said they had disarmed hundreds of Somaliland troops and confiscated their equipment including pick-up ‘technicals.’ According to Firdhiye, that ends the seven-month war that began proper in February, following weeks of sporadic violence.
SSC Khatumo is a loose authority formed to represent three regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn in northwestern Somalia. The definitive headquarters are in Las Anod.
Here, the group overran Goja’adde and Mareega military bases, killing, injuring and capturing many Somaliland soldiers.
Also read: Somaliland vows revenge after militia attack on army camp
At a press conference in Las Anod, Aw-Ali stressed on Sunday that Somaliland forces suffered loss in death and being captured, after which Somaliland forces retreated. Only a portion of captured soldiers has been shared on social media and the exact number of the captured troops has been difficult to verify.
“We seized 218 Somaliland soldiers without wounds while we also captured 42 with injuries, their total being 260,” said Firdhiye.
“The prisoners include some officers who committed crimes and all were handed over to the institutions with authority to keep them,” he added.
Yet the group also seized opportunity to seek public support. They claimed they had protected every unarmed civilian and lay any violations on the part of Somaliland.
Few may celebrate this victory beyond the actual fighters here, however. Civilians were mostly displaced, wounded or even killed.
And the infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, was destroyed. Puntland state, for example, campaigned strongly against Somaliland which it accuses of oppressing the SSC because they always want to be part of a unified Somalia, contrary to Somaliland ambitions. The conflict began last year as the groups sought more autonomy.
They asked to be administered directly from Mogadishu under the federal government. What followed was a storm: Somaliland troops descended on the hapless villagers, crushing anyone who dared resist. But following international condemnation, the troops withdrew. Meanwhile, the local militia reorganised themselves to a fight.
In under a year, Somaliland grip on the region was weakening. But Puntland itself may now not claim the victory. This is because the SSC want a separate federal state. For now, they want to have a special administration from the federal government, which could sort of prevent Puntland from claiming this as its own. So far, there are no definite steps on what will happen next as Somalia’s law doesn’t prescribe actual ways of creating a new federal state. There are five of this kind: Puntland, Jubbaland, Hirshabelle, South West, and Galmudug.
That may give the federal government a new headache: calming the victorious militia from the reality that a federal state may not come soon. It also adds to a continual problem: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Puntland leader Said Abdullahi Deni haven’t been in good terms since last year when the latter lost the presidency to the former.
If Mogadishu decided to give the uprising what they want, Puntland is likely to continue revolting. When the conflict began, President Mohamud had called for dialogue between the parties. Now the parties don’t see eye to eye.