Somaliland-Puntland dispute

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Somaliland border dispute with Puntland. As of July 1, 2007, part of the disputed territory declared the state of Maakhir.

The Somaliland-Puntland dispute is a territorial dispute over the Somali regions of Sool, Cayn and Sanaag between the two states of Somaliland and Puntland.

The dispute escalated into armed clashes on October 15, 2007 when a Somaliland-aligned faction of the Dulbahante clan attacked the ruling Puntland-aligned faction of the same clan in Las Anod, the capital of the "SSC" region (Sool, Sanaag and Cayn). The Puntland-aligned administration has ruled the town since 2003, when the Somaliland-aligned faction was forced out.

[edit] The Dispute

[edit] Sanaag

Sanaag is a disputed region, claimed as sovereign territory by the two self-proclaimed but internationally-unrecognized states of Somaliland and Puntland, as well as defined as part of the Somali Republic according to the 2004 Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

The dispute between Somaliland and Puntland stems from 1998, when Puntland formed and declared the region as part of its territory.^[1] Prior to that, it had been claimed by Somaliland since the 1991 events of the Somali Civil War.

Beginning in 2003, the forces of Puntland entered and occupied the region based on irredentist desires, due to the large Darod clan population in the area. Somaliland claimed the territory as part of the original bounds of British Somaliland. Fighting between the two forces led to casualties and captured prisoners, who were later exchanged. As a related contention, in 2005 Puntland tried to sell off mineral rights to foreign investors, including the disputed territories of Sool and Sanaag.^[2][3]

The dispute with the TFG stems from the passage of the new Charter in November 2004. However, this was not a pragmatic issue until the military successes of the government in the 2006–2007 war in Somalia. Assertions of sovereignty in January 2007 by the TFG leadership sparked riots in Somaliland, both for and against a reunification with the south.^[4][5]

In July 1, 2007, the state of Maakhir was declared on the area. It claims independence from both Puntland and Somaliland.^[6]

[edit] Sool

Sool is a disputed region, claimed as sovereign territory by the two self-proclaimed but internationally-unrecognized states of Somaliland and Puntland, as well as defined as part of the Somali Republic according to the 2004 Transitional Federal Charter of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). During 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) also incorporated sharia courts in Sool region into their loose alliance, though their military forces never occupied the region.

Under the government of Siad Barre, Sool was not a separate region, but part of the larger Nugaal province, with the capital city of Garowe. It was separated from Nugaal in the 1980s.^[7]

Since 2003 and until October 2007, Sool has been under control of Puntland.^[8]

[edit] Ayn

The area is also claimed, since 1991, by the de facto independent state of Somaliland, centered on the town of Buuhoodle, as part of the original boundaries of British Somaliland. According to Somaliland, the so-called Ayn area claimed by Puntland remains part of the Togdheer region. Somaliland disputes the territorial claims of Puntland, which wrote the claim on the portion of Togdheere into their 1998 charter.^[1]

[edit] Armed Clashes

[edit] Capture of Las Anod

The conflict quickly mushroomed into a regional conflict, as Somaliland regular army forces mobilized from their base in the town of Adhicadeeye, west of Las Anod, and entered the conflict. Both sides made use of heavy weapons, but Somaliland's Katyusha MRL's proved decisive, and won a quick victory.

Puntland was slow to mobilize a counter-attack, as Puntland's weak economy and overstretched military obligations in Mogadishu prevented a rapid response. Somaliland has largely secured the city, though resistance from the pro-Puntland faction in the city continues. Somaliland has been quick to move Somaliland's Sool administration into Las Anod, the capital of Sool.

Puntland denied the loss of Las Anod for weeks, and the defeat has dealt a terrible political blow to the already shaky Musa administration, plagued by corruption scandals, dissention and succession from marginalized clans, and economic disaster due to hyperinflation.^[9][10]

"Somaliland troops have captured the entire town and 100 Puntland troops. Somaliland has warned that if Puntland troops try to come back, they would not mind going deep into Puntland territory," a security official who tracks Somalia said. Between 10 and 20 people were reported to be dead.

There were conflicting reports on whether Somaliland troops advanced further into Puntland toward its capital Garowe, about 90km to the east. Abdillahi Ali, Somaliland's defence minister, told that Somaliland troops had control of the checkpoint on the road to Garowe. A diplomat that tracks Somalia from Nairobi told Reuters Somaliland had advanced 25km east of Las Anod.^[11]

[edit] January 2008 clashes

On January 13 2008, heavy fighting erupted after separatist troops from Somaliland attacked a base where rival clan militias were organizing, local sources said. The fighting began early in the morning when Somaliland troops raided militias organizing at Dhabansar, a village southwest of Las Anod, the provincial capital of disputed Sool region. Somaliland forces captured more than 20 prisoners of war, including Col. Deyr Abdi. Some 10 people were killed.^[12][13]

Col. Deyr was recently appointed as military commander for the region by Gen. Adde Muse, leader of the neighboring rival sub-state of Puntland, which also claims legitimacy over Sool region.

On January 15 2008, the president of Puntland Adde Muse Hersi said that its government would soon resume control of Las Anod, and recapture it from Somaliland.^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• War in Somalia (2006–present)
• Maakhir