Photo/Somali Times
Officials with the Puntland Security Forces (PSF) have accused governor Said Abdullahi Deni plotting to disband their forces.
At a press conference in Bosaso, PSF officials said the motive behind the Puntland presidency’s intervention was political, after former PSF director General Asad Osman Diano joined the political process.
Officials point out that they withdrew from the battlefield after a large contingent of troops deployed in Bosaso set up roadblocks for their troops, which they said appeared to have been sanctioned.
The US government, which has been supporting the force, has suspended its support for more than a year, with the exception of salaries. The United States has also withdrawn its troops from the PSF.
Puntland governor Said Deni has appointed a new director of the PSF, ordering his security minister and the commander of the Darawish forces to step up.
However, the two officials said they were not allowed to meet with the army chiefs, and said that the army was mobilizing in Bosaso against Governor Deni’s recent changes to the PSF command which is Diano family inherit on their late father who died ages ago.