^LOL If common sense doesn't work, then the bullets will do the job. Certainly, Somaliland's resolve is very clear. Lets see if Puntland can back their rhetoric with action on the ground.

The people of Egypt are good people in general and feel the pain and suffering of their fella Arabs and Palestine specially. However, they are as powerless as the Palestinians themselves. The military junta that rules Egypt do not have the best interest of Egypt at heart. They are full-filling the interests of foreigners. Regarding the Ethiopain Dams, I think there Ethiopia has rights to those same waters but they need to also recognise this is matter of life & death for millions of dependants down stream and can't do unilateral decisions.

https://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2018/jan/146124/2017_hol_person_of_the_year_abdirahman_m_abdullahi_irro.aspx 2017 HOL Person of the Year: Abdirahman M. Abdullahi IRRO 2017 is a year that Somalia and the Horn of Africa have once again dominated the headlines, from the unlikely election of a new president to a severe drought and the continued war against Al-Shabaab. In this year's major events, there is no shortage of actors – both political protagonists and antagonists, internal and external actors that deploy their influence through money, military muscle and myriad other ways that shaped Somalia and the region in 2017. However, there is one particular individual who may have possibly averted a catastrophic disaster with a courageous decision that is only expected of a statesman. On November 13th, 556,617 voters out of the Somaliland’s 4 million people participated in its third presidential election. Three presidential candidates run for office but many analysts saw it as a tight two-man race between former minister Muse Bihi Abdi of the ruling KULMIYE (Peace, Unity and Development Party) and the former speaker of the House of Representatives Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro of Waddani (National Party). Incumbent Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud Silaanyo was not seeking a re-election. The National Electoral Commission made preparation across Somaliland to ensure the integrity of the election. For the first time in Africa, iris recognition-based biometric technology has been used for the Somaliland elections, although there were short comings in the use of the system. The voting took place in a largely peaceful environment as the external observation mission reported. However, rumors about irregularities begin to spread right after the poling ended. Waddani suspended cooperation with the Somaliland National Electoral Commission (NEC) citing the irregularities and a formal complaint was filed with the NEC. The cheating allegation led Waddani supporters to clash with police in a violent protest. When the dust settled, five people including four civilians and a police officer were killed and Somaliland was almost granted the dubious honour of being added to the list of African democracies that experienced post-election violence. Irro, the presidential candidate, publicly accused the ruling Kulmiye party of “massive” electoral fraud and vote rigging through fake ballot papers. The NEC dismissed Irro’s claim that fake ballot papers were being tallied in Kulmiye’s favour. The row forced the NEC to suspend the vote counting. A tentative agreement, however, was reached after a two-day meeting with Irro and his party, allowing NEC to resume tallying. Just over a week after the initial poll, the NEC finalized tallying and announced the results. With 305,909 votes (55 percent), Musa Bihi Abdi was declared the winner. The NEC announced that Abdirahman Irro garnered a total of 226,092 votes (40.7 percent). Abdirahman Irro reiterated his previous claims of electoral fraud and remained adamant that the vote was flawed. Further skirmishes occurred in the stronghold of the Waddani party. Allegations that under age children voted, that people voted who were registered as deceased, that government officials supporting Kulmiye canvassed voters in polling stations, that an intimidation and arrest of Waddani party agents in polling stations in Gabiley surfaced. Tension started to build up in major cities including Hargeisa, Borame, Barbera, Burco, Erigavo, and many other areas. Supporters of the Waddani party including administrators, youth groups, and elders started meeting in various parties of the country to react to the outcome and deliberate on next steps. The information we have gathered so far indicates that the majority of the supporters of the Waddani party were of the view that they were robbed of a victory. War drums started to beat. Ideas as extreme as dividing up Somaliland emerged in some corners. Irro convened a meeting in Hargeisa for about 100 party leaders and asked for their views. The majority of the people either wanted to challenge the outcome through the supreme court or to reject it all together. After listening to the views of the party leaders and supporters, Irro thanked his party leaders and supporters and reassured them that he will value their input and would make a decision on the next move. Irro had a choice to make: to heed the voice of reason and save Somaliland and its people from another bloody civil war by conceding/going to court or to reject the outcome, which could have enticed his supporters to challenge the outcome by any means necessary including civil disobedience and violence. Irro heeded the voice of reason and chose the former thereby keeping the hard won peace in Somaliland. In his concession speech Irro said “I took the tough decision of conceding for preserving the unity and peace of Somaliland, a decision that would not be popular among many of my supporters whose votes were stolen”. These words echo the sentiment of a leader who placed the interest of his people above personal or party interests. For this, the HOL editorial board has unanimously voted Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, Irro as the Hiiraan Online’s 2017 Person of the Year. Mr Irro’s achievements and contributions are immense including being a bright student of the Sheikh school, a career civil servant, and a politician but what makes him stand out from other Somali politicians this year is that he traded his ambition for Somaliland’s top job for the peace and unity of the people, averting potential political disaster and laying the ground for yet another peaceful transfer of power in Somaliland. This is significant in Somalia’s political history which is full of episodes whereby Somali politicians who were hungry for power enticed violence and destroyed their communities and eventually their nation.

Galbeedi, you are going the path of Saalax. No longer making any sense.

Sxbyaal address the message, not the messenger. Someone was mentioning about starting conflict in those areas. Well, Suldaanku wuxu sheegay cida root cause conflict ka ah, waa dadka damacsan in xuduud qabali ah maanta oo qarnigii 21 lagu jiro ku riyoonaya.

I am only speculating like everyone else here, my thinking is that this military operation is to send a clear signal to those that think they can trespass into Somaliland soil.

Cheeseman has a lot to worry about in Mogadishu. He needs all the help he can garner from any corner including the Puntland to help him survive his 4 year term in Mogadishu. He is only paying lip service to the unionism cause. With regards to the Tukaraq. Last time I checked it is located inside Somaliland borders. Somaliland will reclaim all of its borders as time allows it.

You won't see a 70 year old man running like Muse Bihi.

You can slice it or dice it anywhere you see fit your narrative. But what matters at the end of the day are concrete outcomes on the ground.

Badhan is controlled by local clans. In fact, there are local clan melitia that are allied to Somaliland and there are those that are allied to Puntland. The political situation there is very much similar to Laascaanood of 2005 when both Somaliland & Puntland melitias coexisted in the same town. The clan elders are friendly to all sides which means Somaliland also achieves its objectives there when it is necessary i.e. election time etc. Since there are not much political capital to be gotten from there, it is not a high priority for Somaliland to fully bring it under its sole authority. The cost benefit analysis does not justify a full scaled takeover. Buuhoodleh ranks higher priority with a lot more political benefit.

Nothing will happen to Somaliland. Somaliland is a responsible entity. It will make necessary communications to interested parties prior to any action. If the interested parties do not adhere to the communications, then it is them that will be liable for anything that happens. At the end of the day, the air above Somaliland belongs to no one but the people of Somaliland. And it is only them that have supreme authority that trumps any other agreement.

In a different world, the pipe's most logical outlet would have been Berbera as it could save almost 100 km of pipe-line. I.e. it is closer to the Ethiopia's Somali region where the Gas is sourced. Anyway, it is good that the project is going to Djibouti and not Kenya which is another alternative outlet.

Galbeedi, I hope no one will resort to actual firing of a shot against a civilian airliner. I think Somaliland will send formal seize & desist letter to the head office and management of Airlines and their corresponding countries. If these were fast moving fighter jets, then yes, Somaliland does not have the necessary defence against them. But Civilian Airliners are the slowest moving objects in the sky. Two or three Madfac shot at the right angle is able to send shivers down the spine of any Pilot. No need to directly shot at it, just at a point that is clearly visible to the pilots. Hope this doesn't come to that, and wise heads prevail.

Sure you heard that right. The Nairobi office will control all flights until mid next year when its mandate ends. After that time, if the agreement reached in Turkey between President AMM Siilaanyo and President HSM is not implemented, which called for Somali Air Space to be controlled temporarily from Hargeisa until a comprehensive political agreement is reached. Then what this will do is place the Somali Airspace as noman's land. Where both Hargeisa and Mogadishu will send flight information to the Pilots. This will in turn cause confusion and may temporarily halt all international flights from entering the Somali Air Space.

The doom sayers. Sxbyaal, ha karaamo seegina habaar la igu kari waaye. Galbeedi may not be aware that Khaatumo militia are now part and parcel of the Somaliland army. The implementation of the agreement will surely hit bumpy road ahead but the target is clear.

The Air space is shared between Somaliland and Somalia. And one cannot assume responsibiilty without consulting and agreements with the other. That is the basis of the issue.

The childish behaviour of the Mafia in Mogadishu will only hasten the hand over of control Somali Air space to outsiders. Already there are key regional Air Space operators such as India and Ethiopia that are more than ready to assume this role. If Mogadishu does not come to their senses, there will be chaos in the Somali skies as both Hargeisa & Mogadishu send different instructions to the pilots.

I have been to South East Asia including Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia. Also been to Makkah/Madinah. My next destination is most likely Europe both Turkey & Norway are good destinations. This place called Flam in Norway is just breath-taking around summer time Jun-Jul.

3 months? Please do not forget to update the forum after 3 months.