puntland under attack by terrorists

[grandpakhalif]

The president of Somalia's Puntland State government has said that the stable region is "under attack" by international terror groups and is cracking down on anti-peace elements, Radio Garowe reports.

Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, Puntland's elected president, told the VOA Somali Service during a Wednesday interview that a group loyal to Al Shabaab militants in southern Somalia is responsible for assassinations of Puntland officials.

"The group hiding in Galgala hills received training in southern Somalia and they take orders from foreign terrorists who are the enemy of peace and government," President Farole said, while referring to a hilly region west of Bossaso, Puntland's commercial heartland.


Abdirahman Farole, Puntland's president
The Galgala militants are led by a Puntland-born self-styled sheikh named Mohamed Said Atom, who is on the U.S. wanted list of suspects who hinder peace in Somalia.

"The local element in Galgala hills is led by the man named Atom, who has been hiding out in the mountains for a few years. But those who kill people in Bossaso are especially trained to spread the terror they commit in the south to every part of Somalia," Puntland's president said.

President Farole said government security forces have apprehended a number of terror suspects in recent months, all of whom originate in southern Somalia and received instructions at Al Shabaab terror training camps in southern Somalia.

Security crackdown


Puntland government forces have arrested and sent back to their homes in southern Somalia more than 500 people this week.

President Farole defended the security crackdown, saying: "The people we arrested and sent back are not displaced persons. They are those young men seeking to be smuggled [to Yemen via Gulf of Aden] whom we have always sent back for their own safety. We did not send back elders, women, children, and the poor."

He explained that "most towns in southern Somalia with the exception of Mogadishu are peaceful today and these people should return to their homes unless they have other intentions."

Mr. Farole said that the other group of people sent back to southern Somalia is a major security threat to Puntland and the region as a whole: "The second group intends to plant enmity in a big city [Bossaso] that is crowded and commercially vibrant and where Somalis from everywhere have been welcomed and is home to every Somali clan. Like they did in Mogadishu, they want to create instability from within the city [of Bossaso]," President Farole concluded.

Puntland's leader said the reason terror groups want to target Bossaso is "same reason as Mogadishu. It is a city with business and a big population and is therefore easy to hide [terrorists]."

He promised that Puntland security forces "would not harm or hold" anyone who is innocent of the authorities' suspicions.

'We have surrounded Galgala hideout'

President Farole was asked a question regarding rumors that the Al Shabaab flag has been raised in parts of Puntland.

"That is propaganda and they [Galgala militants] are receiving orders from southern Somalia [ruled by Al Shabaab] and the objective is to fundraise and to say, 'Look we have raised the flag at the corner of a remote mountain. Send us money.' But they have nothing there," the Puntland leader added.

He stated that Puntland government troops have "surrounded Galgala hideout" and that the standoff "will be finalized in the coming days."

But President Farole admitted that the "bigger concern [for authorities] is the terrorists who hide among the displaced people. Those are the ones responsible for the bombings."

Puntland, located at the northeastern tip of Somalia with shores along the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, has been a stable region since the outbreak of the Somali civil war in 1991.

In recent months, Puntland's government has blamed a string of assassinations and bombings on terror cells connected to Al Shabaab and other terror groups fighting to topple the Western-backed TFG in Mogadishu.

[Oxidant]

Farole has destroyed Puntland. This clown should go back to Melbourne

[Shirib]

If he picks a fight with Shabaab, he can begin to start packing his bags

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

The only thing that can save puntland is by joining mujahideenta ahlusunnah wal jamaacah.

[Berke]

Somalis and the word terrorist. Everyone is calling everyone they disagree with or do not like a terrorist. Damn whoever introduced that word to Somali knuckleheads.

[xoogSADE14]

Stop being so melodramatic guys. Puntland isn't going anywhere and neither is Somaliland. Their common benefactor, Meles will not allow Shabab to overrun them.

Grandpa

Yarisoow waabad ka bad badisee maxaa puntland kaa galay?

[gurey25]

Stop being so melodramatic guys. Puntland isn't going anywhere and neither is Somaliland. Their common benefactor, Meles will not allow Shabab to overrun them.

Grandpa

Yarisoow waabad ka bad badisee maxaa puntland kaa galay?

always finding an excuse to insult us, even when we are not involved in the topic...

You cannot compare Somaliland to Puntland..
one is a weak entity that Ethiopia continuosly invades and interferes in politically..
the other much more stable, and ethiopia has never interfered directly into our affairs...

buhodle is another thing...
the people refuse to be part of somaliland or puntland, but are bordered by ethiopia...
little wonder that nobody cares or comes to thier aid when the ethiopian invade..

[paidmonk]

always finding an excuse to insult us, even when we are not involved in the topic...

You cannot compare Somaliland to Puntland..
one is a weak entity that Ethiopia continuosly invades and interferes in politically..
the other much more stable, and ethiopia has never interfered directly into our affairs...

buhodle is another thing...
the people refuse to be part of somaliland or puntland, but are bordered by ethiopia...
little wonder that nobody cares or comes to thier aid when the ethiopian invade..

Doesn't Ethiopia own Berbera port?

You're right, interference is not the right word, it doesn't cover your situation.

[gurey25]

tell me what is wrong with Ethiopian use of berbera?
they are free to import what ever they like through berbera.
they are our nighbour and largest trading partner..

[xoogSADE14]

Gurey

Maybe you're being a lil paranoid here old chap because I have nothing against Somaliland. A turtle by any other name is still a turtle sxb. The fact that both Puntland & Somaliland answer to Addis isn't any earth shattering news sxb. Its just the way it is. Now you can choose to ignore that and call me an enemy of Somaliland or not. It really will not change the reality of the horn.

[paidmonk]

tell me what is wrong with Ethiopian use of berbera?
they are free to import what ever they like through berbera.
they are our nighbour and largest trading partner..

Ethiopia's use of Berbera port is why your major port city is now a ghost town. Berbera is a de facto Ethiopian port and local businessmen have limited control of fees and other charges that they would otherwise make a killing off of if the port was under independent regional control. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Berbera is being conned.

Ethiopia doesn't just use it, they own it. How can a regional superpower use your port as a primary gateway and the town still looks like shit? Its well known even in your circles that Berbera is notoriously underdeveloped in comparison to its resources (the port).

[Babygirl-]

And why does Buhoodle Need Anyones Aid Naac Naac badna They can hadle themselves against Xabashi & all it's Dabo Dhilifs.

[gurey25]

berber bieng a ghost town has nothing to do with Ethiopia, and everything to do with riyales incompetance...
corruption, red tape and higher fees has forced every trader other than those with connection to use djibouti or Bossaso..
I have family members that havemoved business to Bossoso because of this not Ethiopia..

The other major reason was the carta TFG's successfully convincing Saudia and the other arab states to ban somali livestock.
Since 75% of all somali livestock was exported through Berbera, overnight an entire industry went dead, and $200 million annual trade was lost. from 93 to 2000 somaliland made $150 to $200 million off livestock trade every year...

The livestock ban has recently been repealed, and the trade is increasing, Udub is out and new policies will be enacted.
Trade is also booming...

[grandpakhalif]

Stop being so melodramatic guys. Puntland isn't going anywhere and neither is Somaliland. Their common benefactor, Meles will not allow Shabab to overrun them.

Grandpa

Yarisoow waabad ka bad badisee maxaa puntland kaa galay?

I have nothing against Puntland State, we share similar interests.

[xoogSADE14]

Not having anything against someone and carrying the pom poms for them are two different things adeer. We already have one unstable individual here that claims to be beesha, adigana ha noogu darman.