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| Africa Horn |
| Somaliland Forces take control of Taleh without resistance |
| 2014-06-16 |
| TALEH, Somalia -- Amidst looming threats of instability in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag, a fresh incursion into the historic town of Taleh by Somaliland's separatist administration forces has been reported on Thursday, Garowe Online reports. Taleh resident said on Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe that 40 fighting vehicles besieged the town by granting Khaatumo 3 Convention participants including founder and Federal MP Ali Khalif Galaydh a safe passage out of the town. "No combat has occurred in the town. Armed ordinary residents are roaming around here and Khaatumo 3 conference organizers departed either overnight on Wednesday and in the early hours of [Thursday morning]," he said. Speaking on BBC Somali Service Somaliland Armed Forces Commander-In-Chief Gen. Ismael Shaqale confirmed the military move as normal operation aimed at securing Somaliland borders. Separately, Somaliland yesterday deployed hundreds of its troops in Sanaag region, positioning them in temporary bases near Hingalool district. The new leader Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas who was elected Puntland's new president in a narrow victory margin of 33-to-32 parliamentary vote on January 8, 2014 campaigned for Lasanod issue during presidential elections. On April 25, Somaliland troops seized Holhol village in Sool, with units within the forces seizing strategic oil-rich targets. In Septemper 2013, Anglo-Turkish Oil Exploration Company, Genel Energy withdrew its expatriates from Somaliland due to political pressure with the possibility that Federal Government of Somalia threatened license revocation, Somaliland officials initially disclosed. A spokesman for the company afterwards told that security issues forced them to vacate the oil exploration fields in the separatist region. UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea warned in 2013 confidential report that Western commercial oil exploration may spark new conflict in Somalia: "These inconsistencies, unless resolved, may lead to increased political conflict between federal and regional governments that risk exacerbating clan divisions and therefore threaten peace and security," the UN report noted. In a piece published in Wall Street Journal in late May unveiled that Somaliland is planning the formation of oil-field protection unit, exposing international concern over arms embargo and the proliferation of private companies which would run counter to UN stance. Somaliland's neighbor to east, Puntland warmed of "consequences" in Somaliland's pursuit of oil exploration in Sool and Sanaag regions. "Somaliland is creating conflict in the region. Somaliland cannot give land to foreign companies to explore oil when the land does not belong to Somaliland," former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole said while he was delivering a keynote address at Puntland State House in Garowe on 1 August, a date on which Puntland people celebrated 15 years of statehood. Local clan militias who come from the same clan as the self-declared administration of Khaatumo leaders are said to have been coordinating the offensives with Somaliland government forces, sources disclosed. Puntland and Somaliland have fought sporadic battles since 2002 over the control of territories mainly in Sool region. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it hasn't been recognized internationally yet. |
| Posted by:Steve White |