Non-Subscriber Extract
Tug of war - Territorial shifts in northern Somalia
21 November 2007
Given the volume of news coming from southern Somalia, it is relatively easy to neglect the fighting in the north over the city of Laascaanood during September and October. The battle was between Somaliland, an entity striving for independence from Somalia, Puntland, a self-governed territory in northeastern Somalia, and local forces from the Dhulbahante sub-clan.
However, the ramifications of the violence may extend beyond these actors. Puntland, the home region of Somalia's acting President Abdullahi Yusuf, has been used by the struggling Ethiopian-supported Transitional Federal Government (TFG) as a major source of military manpower and financial resources. In many ways, it is the reserve bank of the Somali interim government. Further, Somaliland's Berbera port and Puntland's Boosaaso port are strategically important for Ethiopia, providing maritime access to the landlocked country. Finally, Puntland's coast contains the most common routes for smugglers transporting people and arms back and forth between the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Therefore, the conflict in Laascaanood could very well have significant regional implications.
Somaliland is an entity that claims to be the heir to the former British colony of Somaliland. The colony gained independence on 26 June 1960, but joined the former Italian colony of Southern Somalia on 1 July to form Somalia. The Ogaden war between Ethiopia and Somalia (1977-1978) led to a massive inflow of refugees to the area of the former British colony. Combined with the former dictator of Somalia Siad Barres' centralisation of the economy, as well as the regime's clan-based discrimination, this led to the founding of a local rebel movement, the Somali National Movement (SNM) in 1981. In 1988, the Barre regime's collective large-scale reprisals against the Isaq clan led to massive support for the SNM among this clan. The SNM subsequently revoked what it claimed to be "the union with the south" in 1991, and declared independence. The claim to independence is, therefore, based on the claim that present day Somaliland is an heir to the British colony. Laascaanood and its surroundings were a part of this colony. During the early 1990s, the SNM attempted to formalise its avowed independence by holding large clan meetings and transferring power to a civilian administration. Clan militias were integrated into an army structure, governmental departments were created, and a police force and political institutions were built. In 2001, Somaliland held a referendum in which 97 per cent of the electorate voted for independence, according to the Somaliland government, although international observers did not go to the east. The next year, Somaliland held local elections, followed by presidential elections in 2003 and parliamentary elections in 2005. These elections were deemed by recognised international observers as free and fair, a notable achievement in the Horn of Africa, a region known for its lack of democratic regimes.