File Photo/Somali Times
Somalia corrupt President Hassan Sheikh and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre approved the shipment of weapons and military equipment to the city of Las Anod on Friday, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Somali Times.
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The move risks deepening tensions with the Puntland regional administration.
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The weapons shipment comes ahead of a conference in Las Anod aimed at formally establishing a “Khatumo” administration with the support of the central government—a politically sensitive initiative in a region already plagued by territorial disputes and ethnic rivalries.
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Puntland regional authorities blocked a private meeting organized by the former speaker of the Puntland parliament, Abdirashid Yusuf Jibriil, who arrived in the Ceelbuh area with security forces, intending to pick up delegates from the Las Anod conference. The move was seen as counterproductive to the central government’s influence in the region and creating a civil war.
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Puntland officials said the central government in Mogadishu of fomenting instability and arming the region without consulting local authorities—a move they called “a potential violation of Somalia’s interim constitution, which guarantees the principles of federalism and power-sharing among member states.”
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“The central government’s authoritarian move undermines our regional power and threatens the fragile balance in northern Somalia,” said a senior Puntland official, who asked not to be named.
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This development adds to the political tension between Mogadishu and Puntland, which has been increasingly estranged from the central government in recent months, a dispute rooted in disagreements over constitutional reform, electoral procedures, and resource management.
The central government has yet to issue an official statement on the weapons deployment and its support for Khatumo’s initiative.