Wednesday July 17, 2024
FILE - Puntland's Interior Minister, Abdi Farah Said Juha, addressing security concerns during a recent meeting.
Garowe (HOL) — The Puntland administration has declared that weapons seized yesterday in Shilo Madow, located in the Galgaduud region, pose a significant threat to regional stability and peace among Somalis.
Twelve people were killed Monday in central Somalia, including two soldiers, as government soldiers and local militias clashed over two truckloads of weapons illegally brought across the border from Ethiopia.
Puntland's Interior Minister, Abdi Farah Said Juha, stated that the illegal weapons seized in Galgaduud are a result of the hastily lifted arms embargo on Somalia, a decision he called premature.
"It is a grave mistake to lift the arms embargo on a country lacking a legitimate government both legally and politically, that cannot secure its borders and does not have unified governance; its people are not in agreement," said Minister Juha.
Puntland's Justice Minister, Mohamed Abdiwahab, accused the Federal Government of attempting to instigate civil wars in Puntland and Galmudug. He claimed the goal is to avoid discussions on elections and accountability, thereby enabling President Hassan Sheikh to extend his term.
"The weapons that ended up in the hands of the Abudwaq community are part of the plots and civil wars that the Federal Government is fostering in Mudug and Galgaduud. These weapons were intended to destabilize peace in Puntland and Galmudug," said the Justice Minister.
Puntland has previously asserted that during President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's two-year tenure, inter-clan conflicts and mistrust among cohabiting clans have increased.
The Somali government did not specify the number of weapons, but a security official told VOA Somali that they included two truckloads of DshK and PKM machine guns, AK-47 assault rifles, pistols, and ammunition. The Internal Security Ministry stated that government security forces had confiscated the weapons from "illegal weapons traders" and were escorting them when armed militias set up a checkpoint and intercepted them. According to the official, the local militias overpowered government forces after receiving reinforcements from clan members.
In December of last year, the United Nations Security Council lifted a weapons embargo on Somalia that had been in place since 1992. The Somali government successfully argued that lifting the embargo would assist it in confronting security threats and strengthening its national forces amidst a long-running insurgency by al Shabaab and the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers.