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Security tightened in Puntland as rebellious soldiers defect

Heavily armed soldiers have been deployed across the semiautonomous northern Somali region of Puntland to tighten security after hundreds of rebellious soldiers led by a former senior police general defected over what they described as ‘missing’ basic rights, including lack of salary and well-fare.
The mutineers led by Gen. Muhyadin Ahmed, the former deputy police chief have set up barracks outside Galgala, a mountainous town which is the epicenter of a deadly insurgency by the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group which is fighting security forces.

The defection is seen as a big blow for the Puntland government which is locked in a deadly war with Al-Shabab. The general vowed his troops would launch an offensive aimed at reclaiming the rights for the army from the government.

The government has'nt so far commented on the troops' defections.

Mr. Ahmed told local media last week that the government has failed to pay army salaries as well as fulfilling their basic rights, a reason he said forced him to abandon army ranks. He also accused Puntland troops of abusing families of the defected soldiers.

The revolt started after the Puntland president Abdiweli Mohamed Ali fired Mr. Ahmed along with other commanders, citing incompetence.

Puntland is fighting Al-Shabab fighters in the mountainous Galgala town which changed hands for the past few months. The jihadist group is fighting to set up a key military base in the strategic town that
can provide safe haven for the group's fighters often targeted by aerial attacks, mostly by the US drones.

Al-Shabab sent hundreds of fighters into the region; however, security forces have since kept militants at bay, hindering their attempts to seize region which is close to Yemen where Al-Qaeda fighters have been trying to expand their areas of control since Houthi fighters overthrew the government.

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