MOGADISHU (GG) — The regional government of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland State has issued a formal statement accusing Federal President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of backing unsanctioned military activities designed to dismantle its local administrative system.
The public declaration, issued late Saturday by the Puntland administration, marks a significant escalation in the ongoing constitutional and territorial frictions between the federal government in Mogadishu and regional authorities. Puntland security officials announced they are actively monitoring troop deployments inside their territory that they allege are directly financed and directed by the federal presidency.
According to the official communique, Puntland authorities state that these movements present an immediate threat to the peace and security of its civilian population. The regional leadership explicitly clarified that no security detachment known as the Puntland Security Force (PSF) operates under the lawful framework of the primary Puntland Defence Forces, rejecting any federal command over these specific units.
The administration further declared that it refuses to recognize or accommodate any military units recruited, registered, or deployed by the federal government within Puntland’s administrative boundaries without express prior authorization from local state institutions. Federal defense officials counter that the deployments consist of standard Somali National Army (SNA) units operating within their sovereign national jurisdiction.
In tandem with the internal warning, Puntland authorities issued a stern advisory to the leadership of the neighboring Galmudug State. The statement cautioned Galmudug against permitting its municipal airports, transit corridors, or regional territory to be utilized for the logistics, transport, or stockpiling of weapons and federal personnel bound for contested border zones.
The developing dispute follows months of heightened political volatility in Mogadishu regarding President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s mandate. In March, the federal parliament enacted a series of contested constitutional amendments that extended the standard presidential term from four to five years, postponing scheduled national elections until May 2027.
The unilateral legal change triggered severe pushback from regional states and a coalition of opposition leaders, who declared the extension unlawful when the initial four-year mandate lapsed in May. While recent mediation efforts brokered by civil society networks and regional allies temporarily averted open clashes in the capital, the new accusations from Garowe underscore the deep fractures remaining in Somalia’s federal arrangement.
