Seems our NW Somalia brothers are trying to make up news to divert it away from the Somalia Unity fighters in Buhoodle. Now they can't even get Atam to come out of hiding and do an interview they have to make up someone who claims to be his spokesman?

This is why NW Somalia fails at being a legitimate democracy. One of the many fundamental principles of a democracy is the ability to have a governing body criticized by the media. A how can you be a democracy when your so-called information minister has the ability to close down the media! In a "real" democracy it would be completely in the hands of the court to decide this. Without a doubt the regional government of NW Somalia based in Hargeysa has made the best attempt at imitating a democracy and I hope one day Somalia's Federal Government can actually get it right and achieve true democracy.

Like they did in Buhoodle last year right?

Why do sececessionists care so much? If they are (as they say), a different country, why don't they ever care about when Ethiopia or Djibouti will have a change in presidents? Why are they so concerned about what is going on in Mogadishu? I am reassured about Somalia's unity when the secessionist element contributes to the politics of Mogadishu so much.

Quite sad, even the NE and NW of Somalia have had skirmishes between the Garowe and Hargeysa based admins. It seems the violence is spreading through out Somalia. Hopefully our neighbours will help facilitate our reconciliation.

Somalina;700445 wrote: @Thankful he was quiet when the secessionist foreign minister lied about the Wilton Park meeting that he attended. Somalina, I never knew that. Are you serious? The Wilton Park Conference in which multiple NW Somalia websites posted the text from the so-called NW Somalia FM's speech he made, never happened?

Xaaji, President Sharif once fought against foreign forces and was allied with Aweys and now he has changed his stance; this is noble in my opinion. I believe that people like Aweys who are hard headed and only see things as black and white are ignorant. I agree with open-minded people that see the errors in their ways and choose to correct them. Ethiopians are long gone, many people that fought in Somalia against them have agreed that the war is over now that they have left. Aweys will never change he had his views long before foreigners came to Somalia, back in the early 90s when he was in NE Somalia now (Puntland) and caused war and bloodshed........you may like his hard head, but to me it's disgusting!

Somalina our secessionists brothers have a very distorted view on how politics should work, for them their triangle is everything. So they don't understand that changing opinions is a common practice. We saw Qadaffi as the greatest enemy to the West in 80's and being blamed by the UK government for being responsible for killings in London and then in a couple decades the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is shaking hands with Qadaffi in Libya, the US is calling him an ally and now he is back to being an enemy! Look at the U.S in Iraq and how practically everyday Mukhtar Al Sadr is friend and than an enemy. But our secessionists brothers believe that once you have a stance, you can never change it and have to stick with it, even if it is wrong. President Sharif supported one side and realized it was the wrong one in his opinion! That is honorable!

London2010;700389 wrote: Why don't they develop capital from tax revenue. Growing their gdp so that the private internal market can take up the work. The EU should say no. If you won't help yourself, don't come begging to us. I agree, our NW Somalia brothers for some reason think the EU is their to help them! That they are "allies"!

Rubbish, the donor nations have made their decision before the SSC started their fight against weak secessionists agression, the donor nations are now seeing the protests in London against where their donations are going to. Siilaanyo is being viewed as a warmonger who has had a history of causing instability. We did NOT see this much conflict with Riyaale in his 8 years in power and in less then a year Siilaanyo has order his militia to attack civilians and cause fighting. Why are the SSC really stepping up the defense of their land now that Siilaanyo is in power? He is obvisouly a man against peace.

Erigavo belongs to all of us, we are all from Somalia. You may not agree, but according to the UN, AU and any other international legal body!

Oh, is there armed conflictin Sanaag? In Cayn and Sool it has come to the point where people have taken up arms.

Here we go again, have you ever though Xaaji that people in Sool and Cayn realize that your indepedence goal has had zero progress since 1991? Even more importantly, don't you think that the fact you had (s)elections that had three parties with people from the North Western running....now a single person from Sool Cayn, Sanaag had the oppurtunity to even run. You expect people not to refuse your secessionism and take up arms to stop it with that unfairness?

Mintid Farayar;700160 wrote: Interesting that Garowe Online is on a news blackout about the incident. Kind of gives you a hint on which way the skirmishes between the two ended up. It's Deja Vu all over again... Oh please, Garoweonline is run by President Faroole's son, and ever since their father became president the site is rarely updated timely. I am thinking that this fight was a result of flip-flopper Haabsade's threat of taking the battle to Garoowe and Bosasso. With that being said, the NW and NE of Somalia is the most peaceful, hopefully the secessionists from Hargeysa, Burco, Bebera will cease their hostilities and realize that any skirmishes and violence will only give concrete evidence that breaking up Somalia will cause instability as it is now!

"It was very heavy fighting, and the elders in the area counted nine killed. They are from both sides and all of them are fighters," said Abdihakim Mohamed, a local elder. Yusuf Mustafe, another elder from the town of Lasanod, gave the same death toll but could not confirm which side had the upper hand. Xaaji, your military commander is not neutral and is obviously bias, especially considering he doesnt mention what his militia lost, the elders on the other hand seem more realistic.

Somali breakaway states clash Hargeysa - Forces from the rival northern Somali breakaway states of Puntland and Somaliland clashed along their disputed border on Monday, leaving at least nine dead, officials and witnesses said. Clashes involving anti-aircraft and machine gun fire erupted near the flashpoint town of Lasanod, at the southern end of the disputed border, near Ethiopia. "Puntland militiamen attacked our military barracks in Ganbara village near Lasanod this afternoon," Somaliland military commander Keyse Ahmed told AFP. "We defeated them and captured several of their fighters," he said. "Several of their dead bodies are still strewn across the area as we speak and we retain full control of the village they attacked." Reports from local witnesses indicate that at least nine combatants were killed in the fighting, which lasted several hours. "It was very heavy fighting, and the elders in the area counted nine killed. They are from both sides and all of them are fighters," said Abdihakim Mohamed, a local elder. Yusuf Mustafe, another elder from the town of Lasanod, gave the same death toll but could not confirm which side had the upper hand. Puntland officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Puntland declared itself autonomous in 1998 but long retained close ties to the central administration in Mogadishu, while Somaliland, which broke away soon after Somalia began its descent into chaos in 1991, is more peaceful than the rest of the country and is seeking international recognition. - AFP

A_Khadar you're right, they are not rebels, thanks for informing us!! Xaaji, please, your government has specifically blamed Puntland for what the SSC freedom fighters have done. Your regional government has blamed Puntland for assisting them!

Xaaji Xunjuf;700087 wrote: The rebels get arrested most of the time in Puntland so i dont see the link Ok, fair enough. Your government and ministers are liars then! Because they have implicated Puntland for these attacks numerous times. So if as you say the rebels and Puntland are not linked you should notify your regional government to stop making things up!

Xaaji, if you are a democracy, than why were their now Ballots sent to Lascaanood?

So you actually believe that the rebels aren't in Puntland and were not involved with the skirmish with your militia? Come on, for the rebels to get to Puntland they need to cross Sool or go through Ethiopia. But if you want to believe that the rebels are just staying in Cayn, without Crossing through Sool, than fine.

Xaaji no fighting in Sool huh? Of course you will put your spin on it and never admit defeat! However like it has been said many times, your think your independence bid will have any weight when it causes conflict?

Xaaji Xunjuf;699937 wrote: No Ministers claimed they were fighting rebels in sool actually there are no rebels in sool and there were no rebels there. There were some qarandiids in the buhoodle district but no fighting in sool my friend Xaaji maybe according to you, but your government calls them rebels. http://somalilandpress.com/somaliland-ssc-commander-reveals-split-in-his-group-17799 A REBEL group operating in Somaliland’s southern region of Buuhoodle is said to have disintegrated after the group failed to resolve internal rift among its senior leaders. The new President in Somaliland has vowed to resolve the issue in Buuhoodle peacefully and said a dialogue offer was on the table for the rebels . A source close to the government told Somalilandpress there is some degree of contact between them and some of the elders in Buuhoodle and senior SSC rebel leaders .

Is that a serious question? Doesn't your ministers claim to be fighting the SSC rebels in Sool? Blaming everyone from Puntland to Al Shabaab?

If our secessionist brothers feel that it is some kind of positive development that these protestors mentioned their enclave in NW Somalia. Then find feel free to celebrate. One thing is 100% certain, you have zero recognition from any country in the world and these protestors will only hurt you even greater. The protest show that your enclave is not as safe as you claim to be and that recognizing you would lead to more conflict similar to what we are seeing now in Sool!

'Liibaan';699808 wrote: Yes, Somaliland ma jirto, people of SSC don't recognize so-called Somaliland, similarly UN and all the 200 countries of world don't recognize so-called Somaliland. Like Shabaab, there is criminal faction within Somalia called SNM Clan faction, SNM constantly attack SSC civilians and innocent people. Excellently Put! Just because people protests against secessionists aggression, doesnt me NW Somalia exists, outside the imaginary triangle administration based in Hargeysa, Somalia.