WHO KILLED SOMALILAND INTELLIGENCE COMMANDER IN LASANOD?

[Deeq A.]

LASANOD (PPM) – In February and March 2020 the city of Lasanod witnessed two assassinations that rocked confidence people have in Somaliland security forces. The first assassination involved an improvised explosive device (IED) attached to the car of the former Chairman of Sool Regional Court. The second assassination cost the life of Abdighani Guhad Hassan, the former regional commander of Somaliland Intelligence Agency in Sool.

Assassins in three separate tuktuks ambushed, shot Guhad  dead and escaped the scene. No group has so far claimed the assassination. Authorities in Lasnaod arrested suspects belonging to one subclan in Lasanod. 

Somaliland Government has not succeeded to professionalise security forces in Lasanod. In October 2007 when Somaliland Administration captured Lasanod from Puntland, it had briefly relied on forces loyal to Ahmed Abdi Habsade, the former Puntland Interior Minister who defected to Hargeisa before re-defecting to Puntland in 2014.  

Deployment of forces loyal to Somaliland from Yagoori reduced reliance on Habsade’s ragtag militias and gradually boosted dependency on forces commanded by Mahad Anbashe. With this organisational change began a political rivalry that pits two constituencies in Lasanod against each other. One constituency feels politically marginalised in its hometown, whereas another constituency’s unconditional loyalty to Somaliland Administration gives it what many locals view as “an unfair advantage” over the rest of the population.

COMPROMISED SECURITY FORCES

Between 2009 and 2013 unknown gunmen assassinated people working for Somaliland regional government in Lasanod. No one has so far been put on trial for murders that forced Somaliland government to reduce its security and court staff before employing staff locally to make it more diverse. Some locals point a finger at Somaliland’s reliance upon one subclan to which the slain intelligence commander belonged. Guhad sent reports to Hargeisa about alleged “Al-shabaab cells” without liaising with the regional governor, who complained to the Somaliland Government about bias in reports Guhad had filed to Hargeisa.  

Somaliland Interior Minister Mohamed Kahin doubted the veracity of intelligence reports he had received from Lasanod. “Minister  Kahin knows that officers of the intelligence force in Lasanod belong to the same clan as the Foreign Minister’s. He took confidential despatches from Guhad  with a pinch of salt and asked late intelligence officer to identify subclan identity of ‘suspects'” says a Lasanod-based member of the regional court staff.

Somaliland Government  has shelved efforts to make local security forces in Lasnaod more inclusive for fear of alienating General Mahad Anbashe. This fear also affected President Bihi’s response to the agreement his predecessor had signed with a wing of Khatumo “administration” led by Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh in 2017. 

The security puzzle in Lasanod grows more complicated. Somaliland drags its feet on finding a political solution to a political problem. “This reluctance makes Somaliland government less of an administration but a force hired by opposing groups in Sool” said Farah Dayib, a local businessman.

 ” What is farcical about the whole saga is the description of the  officer as an intelligence commander when what he was supervising can hardly be called a regional intelligence office. The murder of Somaliland security force members will continue as long as the majority of locals views security forces as a lop-sided organisation unjustly empowering militias of one subclan” says  South Lasanod resident.

The criticism that partial recruitment policy tilts security forces towards one local group is similar to criticisms levelled against Somaliland government nearly two years ago when Ga’an Libah Conference was concluded.   

Somaliland senior officers, the regional governor and Lasanod Mayor attended the funeral of Guhad.  Many locals view the low turn-out for the funeral as an indication that people fear being identified as sympathisers.

POLITICAL RIVALS

The renewed insecurity is Lasanod results from  political antagonism between Somaliland Parliamentary Speaker Bashe Mohamed Farah and Somaliland Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasin Haji Mohamud . Bashe has long believed that the security problem in Lasanod requires a political solution. His line of argument has gained salience after the agreement between Khatumo “administration” and Somaliland Government. President Muse Bihi Abdi spurned calls for a political solution based on bringing together Lasanod stakeholders. His administration sees the security problems as an opportunity to raise funds from the International Community to boost the anti-terrorism budget.

Bashe M. Farah: He views Lasanod security forces as militia-based and unprofessional Yasin H. Mohamoud:  Will he support “diversifying” and professionalising of security forces in Sool?

President Bihi and Minister Kahin were career officers of the Somali Army before joining Somali National Movement. The policy to delay necessary security reforms and political reconciliation for people in Sool damages the credibility of the Somaliland political class. It makes Somaliland Government come across as an entity with a vested in the destabilisation of Sool, a situation that can delay impending parliamentary elections in Somaliland, and become a pretext to extend the presidential term of President Muse Bihi Abdi.

© Puntland Post Monthly, 2020

Click here to download a full webzine

The post WHO KILLED SOMALILAND INTELLIGENCE COMMANDER IN LASANOD? appeared first on Puntland Post.