Tuesday July 8, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia’s defence minister on Tuesday dismissed social-media claims that the federal government has moved troops into the contested northern regions of Sanaag and Sool, calling the rumours “baseless” and unsupported by evidence.
“We categorically deny that any federal units, advisers or equipment were dispatched to Sanaag or Sool,” Defence Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told reporters in Mogadishu. “There is no operational need for such a deployment, nor has one taken place.”
Fiqi said those spreading the story have provided “nothing beyond emotional rhetoric,” accusing unnamed political actors of trying to stir tension in areas already claimed by both Somaliland and Puntland.
“You cannot say the federal government ‘fails to control Mogadishu’ and, in the same breath, insist it is strong enough to send battalions hundreds of kilometres north,” he said. “Equally contradictory is labelling the federal government an enemy of federalism while claiming it is creating a new member state.”
The minister said that federalism is enshrined in Somalia’s provisional constitution and its implementation “rests on the shoulders of every Somali.” He urged regional politicians to avoid messaging that undermines the system or inflames clan rivalries.
Rumours of troop movements surfaced last week on Somali-language platforms, heightening sensitivities in Sanaag and Sool, territories at the heart of a decades-long dispute between Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991 but lacks international recognition, and Puntland, an autonomous Somali state. Federal forces have largely stayed out of direct clashes, urging dialogue instead.
Security analysts say the latest uproar spotlights the region’s volatility as the African Union Transition Mission prepares to transfer full security responsibilities to Somali forces by late 2024, a timetable diplomats already view as ambitious.
Local sources contacted by Hiiraan Online on Tuesday reported no new Somali National Army presence in either region, and the Ministry of Defence announced no additional security measures after Fiqi’s remarks.