Somalia: 'Atom is a terrorist,' says Somaliland after Puntland allegations

[General Duke]

Somalia: 'Atom is a terrorist,' says Somaliland after Puntland allegations

9 Nov 9, 2010 - 11:16:16 AM

 

Authorities in Somalia's separatist republic of Somaliland have rejected accusations that Somaliland soldiers fought alongside Al Shabaab militants at war with Puntland's government, Radio Garowe reports.

 

Somaliland Information Minister Abdullahi Osman Geljire told a press conference Tuesday in the capital Hargeisa that Somaliland does not support Al Shabaab insurgents.

 

 

"We share a border with Puntland there is neighborliness and brotherhood between us and our communities [Puntland and Somaliland]," Somaliland's information minister told reporters.

 

He rejected accusations from Puntland President Abdirahman Farole and Puntland Livestock Minister Said Hassan Shire that Somaliland soldiers "fought alongside Al Shabaab" in Galgala area of Puntland.

 

In early August, Puntland troops launched a massive military offensive in Galgala, a mountaineous area roughy 60km southwest of Bossaso, Puntland's bustling port city and commercial capital.

 

Puntland leaders say they have seized all of the militants' training camps and strongholds in the Galgala mountainous area. President Farole said the insurgents, led by Mohamed Said Atom, had fled to regions west of Puntland, under the control of Somaliland government.

 

"We consider Atom to be a terrorist and we will hunt him down if he sets foot inside Somaliland," said Mr. Abdullahi Geljire, the information minister of Somaliland, in the strongest language from Somaliland government regarding the Galgala conflict.

 

The mountainous regions around Galgala stretches deep into Somaliland regions, considered geographically as part of the Golis mountain range. The anti-Puntland rebels linked to Al Shabaab are hiding out in those mountains, Puntland officials believe.

 

But Somaliland Information Minister Geljire said he wants to "reiterate" Somaliland's calls for security cooperation with Puntland, which President Farole welcomed during a recent interview with BBC.

 

Somaliland and Puntland have clashed several times over an unmarked border since 2002, with both administrations claiming ownership of Sool and Sanaag regions. That 'border dispute' has been resolved yet but both administrations have expressed peace overtures in recent months.

 

Last month, the U.S. government announced the two-track approach for its Somalia policy which would see U.S. direct support to Somaliland and Puntland, whilst continuing to back UN-recognized Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu under African Union protection.

 

In Oct. 2008, Al Shabaab suicide bombers launched five simultaneous in Hargeisa and Bossaso, including a suicide bombing at the Somaliland presidential palace in Hargeisa.

 

Somaliland unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized yet, while Puntland supports the establishment of a future federal Somalia.