Highlights
- Somali based members of the Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen are camping in the Galgala hills of Puntland.
- Galgala hills and generally Puntland are regions outside the AMISOM and SNA areas of operation.
- Puntland, which is for the first time facing threat from the Somali based armed militants, is seeking for assistant from the Somali federal government and AMISOM.
- President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali of Puntland said on 9th that his government needed to be assisted with military equipment, telecommunication, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition to drive away the encroaching militants.
Analysis
For over a decade, Puntland has largely avoided the confusion that has eaten into Somalia including the threat from al Shabaab militants.
Puntland is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garoowe in the Nugal province. Plans to establish itself as a semi-autonomous government followed the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998.
Unlike neighboring Somaliland, Puntland does not seek outright independence from Mogadishu Somalia.
The semi-autonomous state has however on numerous counts resisted Mogadishu’s proposals to become an official state in a new Somalia, clashing on how to share resources and proceeds from potential oil deals.
Al Shabaab, which controlled Mogadishu and southern Somalia until it was driven out of the capital in 2011, has been pushed out of major strongholds by the Somali army and the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM.
The ongoing operation Juba Corridor has further pushed the militants out of their major operational bases in Southern Somalia. The militants have consequently regrouped in the Galgala hills of Puntland, outside the AMISOM area of operation.
Al Shabaab now poses a threat to Puntland and they must be prevented from entering and establishing terror cells in the region.
Forecast
Puntland heavily relies on the regional forces in its efforts to stem the spillover of violence from Al Shabaab militants. This is an indirect implication of AMISOM extending their operational region to include areas not earlier mapped.
