By: Puntland Mirror Garowe-(Puntland Mirror) Puntland on Wednesday said the Sool and Cayn regions remain part of its territory, in a move seen as rejecting the SSC-Khaatumo administration currently under formation in Lasanod. In a statement issued by the Puntland Ministry of Interior, the government cited constitutional provisions from its 1998 founding, arguing that communities in Sool and Cayn had fully participated in establishing the Puntland State. “Until a legitimate legal process involving broad consultations across Puntland takes place, the regions of Sool and Cayn and their inhabitants remain part of the Puntland State,” the statement said. The position marks a shift from earlier remarks by Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni, who had expressed support for SSC-Khaatumo’s aspirations for self-governance. A conference is underway in Lasanod aimed at finalizing SSC-Khaatumo’s state formation. The process is reportedly supported by the Federal Government of Somalia, which...

  By: Dalmar Garowe, Puntland  — The Puntland Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs, and Democratisation  today issued  a comprehensive response to the Las Anod Conference, exposing it as the latest maneuver in the Federal Government’s systematic campaign to fragment stable regions while Al-Shabab consolidates its southern conquests. The ministry asserted that “Any proposal for a new administration within Puntland must follow a legal, consultative process involving all stakeholders who participated in Puntland’s founding”. The Las Anod conference, ostensibly organized by SSC-Khatumo but bearing the unmistakable fingerprints of federal orchestration and funding, seeks to expand beyond its Dhulbahante base into Sanaag’s Warsangeli territories—an ambition that has met  categorical rejection  from the region’s traditional leaders who recognize the gambit as an assault on Puntland’s constitutional order. This ministerial response illuminates the sophisticated wa...