At least four soldiers killed in Dhahar as Puntland forces clash with Somalia-backed clan militias. Somaliland warns of looming war as Mogadishu inflames regional tensions.
Blood spilled in Dhahar is no longer just a local matter—it’s the sound of the Horn of Africa inching toward another destabilizing war. On Tuesday, Puntland Maritime Police Force units stormed Dhahar district in Haylan to dismantle illegal checkpoints—only to be met with a torrent of gunfire from clan militias allegedly backed by the Somali Federal Government. Four Puntland soldiers are dead. Ten more wounded. Civilians fled in panic.
The timing is explosive. A major SSC-Khaatumo conference is underway in Las Anod to formalize an administration recognized by Mogadishu, and yet fiercely rejected by local elders in Sanaag and Haylan. These elders issued a blistering statement: no mandate was granted, no allegiance sworn. In their words, “Puntland is our only legitimate political home.”
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Yet Mogadishu presses on. Somaliland’s President Irro denounced the deployment of federal-aligned forces in Dhahar, warning it threatens not just Somaliland’s sovereignty but regional counterterrorism. Somalia, Irro said, is “using anti-terror funds to foment clan war.”
And that war is beginning to look intentional. The Federal Government’s SSC-Khaatumo gambit now looks less like decentralization and more like weaponized federalism—destabilizing Puntland, threatening Somaliland, and igniting clan divisions that will only benefit al-Shabaab and other violent extremists lurking in the shadows.
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The international community is at a crossroads. Stand behind Somaliland’s proven stability, or allow Mogadishu’s recklessness to plunge the region into another senseless war. This is no longer about local governance—it’s about who controls the narrative, the territory, and ultimately, the future of the Horn.
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