Clashes between security forces escalates in Puntland's Bossaso city
Somalia’s donors are worried the main port city of Bossaso in Puntland state may be a new haven for terrorists after local forces turned on one another in a brutal show of wrangles.
In the last couple for weeks, an armed clash in the port city, some 1500km northeast of Mogadishu has rendered the law keepers mostly focused on one another, rather than guarding civilians.
In mid-morning on Tuesday, skirmishes erupted again between forces loyal to Puntland government of President Said Abdullahi Deni, and an anti-terrorism elite brigade known as Puntland Security Force (PSF).
Reports from the port town of Bossaso confirmed deaths and injuries among the combatants and civilians, as the clashing sides exchanged fire from all sorts of heavy and light arms.
The US Embassy warned on Tuesday the fighting has to stop to enable the forces focus on the real enemy: Al-Shabaab and other criminals.
“We urge an immediate end to the hostilities in Bossaso and a return to dialogue to find a negotiated, peaceful solution,” the statement from the US Embassy said.
“Continued fighting will only inflict further harm on Bossaso and its people.”
Latest reports indicated that the fighting that intensified over the afternoon had cooled down but residents still reported intermittent gunfire.
Neither the pro-government side nor the PSF officers have issued clear information on the status of the fighting and the casualty levels.
Bossaso, the commercial capital and the main port of Puntland, had become a ghost town as residents fled for safety on Tuesday. Businesses remained largely closed.
The problem in Bossaso started in November when Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni sacked Mohamud Osman Diyano, the director of Puntland Security Force (PSF), an elite armed brigade that had been formed to fight the jihadist groups in Puntland, namely Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State (IS).
By the same decree, Deni appointed Brigadier General Mohamed Amin Abdullahi to replace Diyano, a move Diyano vehemently rejected.
Supported by the top PSF officers, Diyano and his lieutenants labeled the dismissal and replacement as illegal and vowed to continue in their positions.
FSF units mainly stationed in the mountainous area of Bari region, confronting the jihadists that wage attacks from the Golis mountain range next to the port town and other districts within the region have withdrawn from their posts and regrouped at their headquarter in Bossaso town.
When news of the PSF’s defiance became clear and its top officials announced their antagonism against President Deni’s decree public, the Puntland government mobilized its other forces, especially the Darawish, a paramilitary brigade, and deployed in Bossaso town.
Media reports indicate that the US Africa Command (Africom) has been supporting, logistically and financially, the PSF. But, various information released illustrate that the PSF has been affected by Former US President Tramps troops’ reduction in Africa and across the world.
“Most of the materials supplied by the US to PSF has been taken to Djibouti and Balidogle (a military base in Southern Somalia),” told the media three weeks ago Abdiwahid Mohamoud Hassan, a former commander of the Puntland Darawish force.
With respect the confrontation in Bossaso town, political commentators in Mogadishu believe that Deni is an awkward situation. “If he fights his opponents, he will look like a warlord. If he changes his decree, it will portray him as a weak leader,” Hassan Aidarus, a political observer in Mogadishu, told Nation on 3rd of December.
“Only US’s Africom can tilt the balance,” he added.
In early December, a group of clan elders led by Boqor Burhan, the supreme traditional leader in Punltand, met and issued a formula to stop the dangers of hostilities from escalating.
However, President Deni categorically objected to the elders’ resolution because they included a close that the fired PSF director retains the force’s weapons, which Dei said they belong to the Puntland government. BY DAILY NATION
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