Tukaraq Battle Presages a Wider Conflict

[Deeq A.]

In 2005 when Somaliland and Puntland governments exchanged prisoners in the then Adhicaddeeye frontline, General Abdullahi Arays said both administration were wrongheaded " to fight over a piece of barren land". This shows that Puntland never considered the conflict as one based on a territory. It is Somaliland government that views a territory as the source of the conflict. What Somaliland political leaders have failed to understand is that territories now designated as "disputed territories" lie within the ex-British Somaliland, the territory Somaliland claims to have a legally binding jurisdiction based on sovereignty. Somaliand's understanding of the sovereignty runs counter to the UN Security Council Resolutions that reiterate the territorial and political unity of Somalia. In essence, Somaliland government's stance is more self-defeating than the position of successive post-independence former civilian Somali governments that never claimed jurisdiction over territories in Ethiopia and Kenya in which Somalis live.

Source: Hiiraan Online