Somaliland Administration militias capture Boocame district of Puntland

[Deeq A.]

Somaliland militias at Boocame earlier today

Garowe (PP News Desk) — Militias loyal to Somaliland Administration have captured Boocame, a district under the federal jurisdiction of Puntland State of Somalia.

A unit of militias armed with technicals has arrived in Boocame to celebrate 18 May secession day. Somaliland Administration forces based at Tukaraq have been planning to take over Boocame, a district that poses logistical challenges for Hargeisa should Puntland State mobilize its forces to retake Boocame.

The unprovoked attack by the secessionist administration is the first domestic policy challenge for the incoming Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who supports the federal jurisdiction under which Puntland State has to administer territories under local militias in the patty of Somaliland Administration.

Somaliland Administration violated the 2018 truce facilitated by the African Union after Tukaraq clashes. It claims that its forces have a right to advance to what was a border between ex-British Somaliland and ex-Italian Somaliland. Somaliland Administration misapplies “the maintenance of inherited colonial boundaries” that can only be invoked when a member country of the African Union violates the territorial integrity of another member state.

Local militias supported by Hargeisa might withdraw from Boocame, a source told Puntland Post. “Somaliland Administration President Muse Bihi wants to use contrived hostilities as pretext to delay elections” added the source.

© Puntland Post, 2022

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