Puntland seeking military help

Somalia’s Puntland region needs more help from the central government and the African Union (AU) to fight al-Shabaab militants, especially equipment and ammunition, the president of the semi-autonomous region has said.

Al-Shabaab, which controlled Mogadishu and southern Somalia until it was driven out of the capital in 2011, has been pushed out of major strongholds by the Somali army and the AU peacekeeping force Amisom (AU Mission to Somalia). It has regrouped in the Galgala hills of Puntland, outside the Amisom area of operation.

Amisom is largely funded by Western powers who want the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, which aims to overthrow the government and impose its strict version of sharia, to be driven out. “We do not need Amisom forces because Puntland forces have the ability to fight al-Shabaab,” President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said. “But we need to be assisted with military equipment, telecommunications, military vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

“These are what we need from Amisom and we have the right to get all these. Why are Mogadishu forces assisted and why are Puntland forces not assisted? This shows the unfairness in Somalia’s federal government.”