Somaliland on The Destruction Footpath

Written by: Mohamed Abdi Fatah Mohamoud [Amin Guled] 

Summary

Somaliland is a secessionist self-declared state in the Northern Somalia, they struggled for international recognition for more than 3 decades with the biggest challenge being the lack of approval and acceptance from southern Somalia.

In the past few years, Somaliland has gained it is Reputation as the safe heaven in Somalia, they succeeded in democracy by holding public elections which was never been achieved by the South, the state which is yet to gain it is emancipation from Somalia has also advanced in the disarmament of it is civilians which is also yet to happen in the southern and central parts of Somalia since the collapse of the central government led by president Mohamed Siyad Barre in 1991.

Somaliland did not directly participate the long civil war that raged the rest of Somalia, but some critics say; al-Shabaab is indirectly backed up from Somaliland, although there is no concrete evidence on that criticism, but some very important figures of al-Shabaab including Ahmed Abdi Godane and Ibrahim Afghan hail from Somaliland.

Currently Somaliland is in war within it self after Dhulbahante traditional leaders crusaded for Somaliland forces to vacate their city (Laas Anod) due to the constant associations of their elites in their city at the presence of Somaliland forces of which they failed to take any responsibility.      

 

Formation

 

The name Somaliland came into an existence in 1884 after the Britain colonialist signed an agreement with Isaaq, Gudibiirsi and Warsangali tribes to become a Britain protectorate.

But in the grand conference of Bur’o 1991, different names were suggested including Puntland (ancient name of Somalia) and Shankaroon (Better than five) which literally means ‘the best of the Five (5)’ the 5 stands for the five-sided star depicted in the Somali flag. (Ref^{; ‘}1’)

26-June-1960, this small tribal based protectorate took its independence from Britain and four days later, 1^st July 1960, they united with southern part of Somalia who also took their independence from Italy. (Ref^{; ‘}2’)

In the first 4 days, before Somaliland united with Somalia as preplanned, the state was recognized as independent country by 35 sovereign countries, although the United Nation merely acknowledged the independence of Somaliland, but they congratulated their independence.  (Ref^{; ‘}3’)

the secretary of state sent a congratulatory message to the council ministers of Somaliland on the same day it claimed it is independence from British, but The UN did not extend a formal recognition to Somaliland.

on 27 June 1960, Somaliland Legislative Assembly approved a bill that would formally allow for the union of the State of Somaliland with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (Italian Somaliland) on 1^st July 1960 without any unilateral power sharing Accord. (Ref^{; ‘}4’)

The lack of uniliteral power sharing agreement between the south and the north generated the prolonged controversy which was based on the lack of adequate and appropriate representation of the people from the north, which finally ignited the Isaaq genocide in1988 by the military government led by president Siyaad Barre.

 

In May 1988 SNM (anti Siyad barre rebel in the north) launched a massive attack on the two major cities in the northern Somalia Hargeisa and Bur’o , 27 may 1988 SNM successfully captured and seized the entire city of Buro after 2 hours of massive offense which started  from the western corner of the city during the early hours of the morning, after two days Hargeisa dawned with similar attack and has fallen in to the hands of SNM on 29 may 1988. (Ref^{; ‘}5’)

After these two major attacks, the military regime started bombing and razing Hargeisa & Bur’o which led to Hargeisa holocaust, the casualties reported from different sources estimated over 50,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 400,00 people from their shelters.

15 may 1991 under the leadership of Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur Somaliland declared itself as an independent state from Somalia after the Bur’o Grand conference (27 April – 15 may 1991).

In 1994, the first president of Somaliland Abdirahman Ahmed subsequently denounced the idea of Secessionism and publicly advocated for the reunion of Somalia with proper power sharing federalism.

In 1993, The national reconciliation in Borama appointed  Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal  as the successor of Abdirahman Tuur and the new president of Somaliland, he was reappointed in 1997 till his death in 2002 in south africa.

In 2003, one of the highest Somali national security officers in Siyad barre’s government  Dahir Riyale Kahin become the first publicly elected president of Somaliland (Ref^{; ‘}6’)

Democratic parties emerged and every 5 years Somaliland successfully holds general and fair elections, despite the critics from the minority clans, the general elections which were supposed to be held in November 2022 are delayed and still uncertain to happen in this year (2023).

Somaliland partially avoided all kinds of civil war that took place in the southern and central Somalia.

  

 Islamists in Somaliland  

 

It is crystal clear that the prolonged Islamist conflicts in southern Somalia did affect the peace building process that Somaliland flourished since its birth, but critics say, Somaliland is the back end of al-Shabaab, this narrative emerged after very eminent and predominant figures of al-Shabaab leaders has got their lineage linked to Hargeisa, these figures include Ahmed Abdi Godane and Ibrahim Al-afghani

Godane was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world and the top leader of al-Shabaab from 2008 till he was killed by US drone strikes in September 2014, in 2009 US put $7million bounty for any information leading to his capture or death, he was born in Hargeisa in July 1977, he hails from Isaaq clan, he studied Quran and elementary school in Hargeisa (Ref^{; ‘}7’)

Some local people in Hargeisa confirmed, Ahmed godane’s wife and children resided in Hargeisa by the time he was the leader of al-Shabaab, in 2009, there was public financial contribution campaigns to support him and the Somaliland authorities didn’t restrict those contributions.

Some critics from Mogadishu blame Somaliland government as behind the scene player that funds the suicide attacks in the capital by aggravating the unrest in the south, because, Somaliland uses the conflict and the unrest in Somalia as one of their justifications to become sovereign state.

In November 2021, king Osman Mohamoud Buurmadow, who is one of the traditional leaders of Somaliland while he was Mogadishu said;

“There are two governors in this city, one governor is the federal government and the other governor is us (Isaaq tribe which he belongs)” (Ref^{; ‘}8’)

These words uttered by the traditional leader provoked many people in Mogadishu who used his words as a concrete prove that Somaliland is behind the unrest in Mogadishu.

 

Laas-anod conflict

Although Somaliland established peaceful, transparent and democratic governance over the past 30 years, recently that Reputation seems defamed after several associations of Dhulbahante elites in Sool region erupted public tensions which led to the Salvation campaign against Somaliland forces from Laas Anod coercively.

 The revolution started as demonstrations in Laas Anod in the December 2022, the demonstrators requested justice for the Dhulbahante elites murdered in the city at presence of Somaliland security forces, some accused the killings on Somaliland forces themselves.

The locals in lass-anod requested the government to resolve the issue by penalizing the murders, in response the government fired live bullets to the demonstrators and shot women and teenaged boys as reported by local independent medias.

 

 In January 2023, community members in Laas Anod including traditional leaders and elders mainly from Dhulbahante and Faqashini started a revolution against Somaliland by condemning and blaming the assassinations on Somaliland government, Somaliland officials denied the accusations.   

On 6^th February 2023, Somaliland forces attacked a house where some of the elders gathered to release a joint statement of the SSC community leaders after they declared that SSC is under the rule of the Federal government Somalia and Somaliland troops must withdraw from the city. (Ref^{; ‘}9’).

 

Since the conflict in las-anod begun on February, ther 700 casualties reported including 7 children and their mother who have been killed by a mortar fired by the Somaliland troops who attacked the city under the direct orders of the president of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi, the education of more than 15,000 children is affected after more than 50 schools were closed since Somaliland attacked the city.

 

Interagency assessment report which was published on 13 Feb 2023 estimated 185,282 individuals have been displaced to the rural areas and also other neighboring cities and towns, the displaced individuals are vulnerable for being hit by the server droughts that affected almost 70% of the Internally displaced people in Somalia, all of the displaced people from Laas-anod are cohabiting with relatives in nearby towns because they don’t have adequate housing materials that can provide shelter to the women and children who were newly moved out of their native city.

 the international community steered by US embassy in Mogadishu released joint statement in which they condemned the ferocious steps taken by Somaliland troops in las-anod, they called for immediate unconditional ceasefire and Somaliland to stop shelling of civilians in the public places such as in the mosques and hospitals. (Ref^{; ‘}10’).

The elders and the traditional leaders in Las-anod released a press release in which they requested from Somaliland to withdraw their soldiers from the city and start unconditional ceasefire.

Unfortunately, Somaliland ignored all these peace calls coming from various side inside and outside, last week of March Somaliland military said they will move from the defense mode to aggressive/attack strategy which indicates the readiness of Somaliland to continue the war.  

 Now the war entered its 56^th day and still there is no tangible gains from either of the sides yet both sides are claiming victories.

Some reports are indicating the possibility of tribal reinforcement from other Darood clans to back up their fellow clan members in Laas Anod,

although those sources are not reliable, the sense of reinforcement is felt in the nearby cities and towns, these kind of news and propaganda are meant.

 

 

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud previously called for peace in Laas Anod in multiple occasions and emphasized the elders of Laas Anod and the Somaliland leaders to open peace talks before the war claims more lives and exacerbates the living conditions of the most vulnerable individuals who were newly displaced from their homes.

03/04/2023, the president of Somalia has appointed Abdirakrin Hussein Guled a formal president of Gal-Mudug State as his especial envoy on Somaliland affairs, his assignment is to bring back the peace talks between Somalia and Somaliland and to resolve the conflict in Laas Anod.

many political leaders including the president of Somaliland impressed and welcomed the appointment of Mr. Guled on Somaliland affairs. (Ref^{; ‘}11’)

The newly appointed envoy on resolving Somalia-Somaliland issues was highly effective political actor who played very important role in the 6 round Somalia Somaliland talks commenced in 2012 in London and broke down in 2015 in Istanbul.

 

23^rd February 2012, Somalia and Somaliland talks commenced at Lancaster House, London, in these talks, both sides highlighted the necessity of avoiding any challenge that could undermine the process of the negotiation, the international community promised to unceasingly support the talks.

 

The second round of the talks started in Dubai after the president of Somalia sheikh sharif sheikh Ahmed and the president of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo met in Dubaia on 28 June 2012.

 

13 April, 2013, the third round of the talks kicked off in Ankara-turkey at the presence of Turkish prime minister and his foreign minister at that time,

The aspirations from the Somali government were at highest, because Somalia moved from the transitional process and officially recognized as the federal government of Somalia and president Hassan sheikh came into power whose main focus was to establish and implement federalism throughout the country.

The two side jointly produced a communique consisting of 7 articles.

1)    Both parties committed to the continuation of the dialogue.

2)    They agreed to act in accordance of London and Dubai agreements

3)    They both noted to communicate as two sovereign countries

4)    Both agreed to share the aid received from the international community.

5)    They also agreed to jointly works in security sectors to fight against terrorism, piracy, illegal fishing, toxic dumping and marine time security.

6)    They noted to meet again in 90 days in turkey.  

7)     They emphasized to avoid anything that could undermine the dialogue such inflammatory words.

 

As promised in the Ankara meeting, the sides met again in Istanbul from 7-9 July 2013, in the meeting the two agreed to repossess the air traffic management from the United Nations and open a joint control base in Hargeisa and also agreed to meet again in turkey within the next 120 days.

16^th-19^th January 2014, delegations from both sides met in istanbul and agreed to establish air traffic board within 45 days, technical commute of 4 people (2 from each side) were appointed to prepare the regulations of the board.

The Somali government acknowledged in this meeting; the Somali government used its legitimate power against Somaliland people in 1988 by committing grieving humanitarian  atrocities.

 

21^st December 2014, both parties met in Djibouti but did not agree on anything significant, they granted to meet on 27 February 2015 in Istanbul.

In February, both parties finally came to Istanbul to continue the dialogue, but Somaliland said Somalia has violated the previous agreements by adding people from Somaliland on their side which they said it is against their previous assents. (Ref^{; ‘}12’)

The newly appointed especial envoy on Somaliland issues Abdikarin Hussein Guled played very effective and critical role in the 6 round talks which started in London 2012 and broke down in Istanbul in 2015, he was welcomed by many political leaders including the president of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi, Puntland has opposed and accused the appointment of the envoy to be violating the rights of SSC people.

 

the consequence of the SSC conflict 

the consequence of the Laas Anod war on both sides will have major political impact especially on Somaliland if the fight continues and both sides do not rush into an urgent reconciliation, the political impact on Somaliland side might be serious one in terms of economic sanctions, travel ban and visa restrictions of the Somaliland officials, these kinds of retributions will occur if the atrocities committed by Somaliland in Laas Anod are seriously investigated.

 Possible Economic and financial sanctions on the individuals and the officials involved in the war crimes in Laas Anod include, freezing the international bank accounts of these individuals and to also confiscate their assets on overseas.

If Somaliland still continues shelling the children in Laas Anod, punitive legal actions are already in place to punish those who commit war crimes, the legal actions can be taken by the international criminal court after clear convictions of the criminals.

 

Conclusion

According to the past history of Somaliland, the social structure of Somaliland people is quite different from the rest of Somalia, the community members in Somaliland are committed to participate the peacekeeping methods constructed by their elders in 1991 (Grand conference of Bur`o) which include “the elders council’, the tribal leaders have very important role in the government because they are highly respected, even they are respected more than the government officials, this role by the elders and tribal leaders contributes the overall peace of Somaliland.

The other fact that helped Somaliland to achieve its reputation as the safest place in Somalia is because, the public doesn’t have any access to ammunitions and the government restricted any access of any kind of weapons.

All that being said, still there are possibilities of security failures which can be the consequence of the currently ongoing war in Laas Anod if it is not resettled as soon as possible.  

  Somalia has geared up it second phase in the fight against al-Shabaab, the government is well prepared for this fight and the commitment of the Somali army to defeat al-Shabaab cannot be neglected, furthermore the frontline neighboring countries of Somalia (Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti) sent military troops who will participate in the second phase of the war.

 after this terrorist organization is defeated in the south, they may turn their focus on northern Somalia, because, in Somaliland, due to the ongoing war in Laas Anod, the security is not very tight as it was.     

 

Reference

 

1: [walls, micheal (2008)] 

2. [Richard reberca(2014)]

3.. 3 (The New Encyclopedia Britannica (2002), p. 835)

4: [SOMALILAND & SOMALIA: THE 1960 ACT OF UNION – An early lesson for Somaliland]

5: Abdullahi, Mohamed Diriye (2001). Culture and Customs of Somalia.]

6:6 ["FREEDOM IN THE WORLD – Somaliland Report". 18 May 2012.]

7: inside al-Shabaab].

8: [Horn Cable tv (18-nov-202)1| News].

9: [amin-abdifitah.blogpost, conflict in Laas Anood]

10: [amin-abdifitah.blogpost, conflict in Laas Anood]

11: [garooweOnline | news].

12: The Somaliland-Somalia Talks in 2012-2015: A Critical Appraisal. Somali Studies].