Friday  31, October 2025 {HMC}  More than 2,500 soldiers based in Garowe, Bosaso, and Galkayo have received payments of $200 each from the Federal Government of Somalia over the past two days, according to officials and bank transfer records reviewed by Hiiraan Online.

The payments were reportedly made via electronic transfer, with remittance messages identifying the recipients as members of the Somali National Army (SNA).

Officials familiar with the process said most of the payments went to soldiers from the Puntland Security Force (PSF) in Bosaso and to members of the Danab commando unit led by Gen. Jimcaale Jama Takar in Garowe.

Both groups have been at the center of growing tensions after Puntland’s administration, led by President Said Abdullahi Deni, reportedly cut off their salaries in recent months — a move that fueled anger and frustration among the troops.

Reports also indicate that SNA-affiliated soldiers stationed in Galkayo received similar payments from Mogadishu.

The federal government’s direct payments follow President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s recent remarks acknowledging the presence of national army troops operating in Puntland, despite the region’s semi-autonomous status.

Meanwhile, Puntland authorities have halted salary and food provisions for troops based in the Sool and Cayn regions after those areas aligned with the newly declared Northeastern Federal Member State.

Sources said the decision was driven by frustration in Garowe after some officers in those regions refused to obey Puntland’s chain of command and instead pledged loyalty to the emerging local administration.

The overlapping disputes underscore the deepening rift between Puntland and the federal government, as both sides vie for control and influence over security forces and territory in northern Somalia.

Source Hiiraan Online

Friday  31, October 2025 {HMC}  — Puntland authorities have reportedly halted salary and food payments to troops stationed in the Sool and Cayn regions after those areas aligned with the newly declared Northeastern Federal Member State, deepening tensions within Somalia’s most politically divided region.

Sources familiar with the matter said the decision came in response to growing frustration in Garowe after some officers and soldiers in Sool and Cayn pledged allegiance to the emerging regional administration and refused to take orders from Puntland’s command structure.

Among those affected are forces previously loyal to former Puntland Vice President Ahmed Karaash, a key political figure credited with playing a major role in forming the Northeastern administration.

The unpaid troops, according to sources, recently met with Puntland Vice President Ilyas Lugatoor—who hails from the Sool region—to appeal for the reinstatement of their salaries and food rations. They said they have gone without pay or supplies for three months and warned they may take unspecified action, including blocking key roads, if their demands go unanswered.

The move comes amid wider political and military friction in Puntland, where the regional government has also suspended the pay and support of a Danab special forces unit led by Gen. Jimcaale Jama Takar, who is accused of maintaining ties with Somalia’s Federal Government in Mogadishu.

The escalating dispute highlights the growing fragmentation of authority in northern Somalia and the strain between Puntland’s leadership and forces aligned with rival political factions.

Source Hiiraan Online

Friday  31, October 2025 {HMC}  Hundreds of families caught in the centre of fresh conflict in Awdheegle, west of the Somali capital Mogadishu, are stranded in camps near the town of Marka without any access to food, water, and shelter.

Around 300 families, displaced for the first time, fled their homes and farms when fighting erupted between government forces and Al-Shabaab earlier in October in Awdheegle, Lower Shabelle region.

Many walked for days with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, leaving behind houses and farmland that were later destroyed. They are living in two already existing camps seven kilometres outside Marka.

Hassan Nur Ali, 55, fled to Buulo-samow camp with his wife and seven children empty-handed. They sit during the day under a rough shelter made of tree branches tied together and covered with old cloth. Nighttime brings little sleep for them.

“We have no food, no water, and no protection from mosquitoes, we sleep under branches we gathered ourselves, without plastic sheets or bedding. Some days we go without food for two days,” Hassan told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.

Hassan’s family depends on cooked meals shared by other displaced families in the camp. The only water source is a single pipe connected to a borehole in Marka town. People wait in long queues to fetch water, and sometimes the supply stops before everyone gets a turn. Water is sold at 2,000 Somali shillings for 20 litres.

“It can take me several hours just to get two litres of water,” he said. “Some days my children go thirsty. We beg water from those who manage to fetch it.”

Hassan owned a four-hectare vegetable farm and a three-room house in Awdheegle. His crops were planted just weeks before the fighting began, but people who later returned told him his home and farm had been burned down.

“I had enough food and a proper home before, now everything is gone. Even my children’s schooling stopped. Two of them were studying in Awdheegle, now they just sit idle here,” he said.

Hassan spent two weeks walking to and from Marka town in search of casual labour, but he found that most jobs are given through personal connections, leaving him without work or income.

The 50 kilometre journey from Awdheegle to Marka took him and his family five days on foot: “We suffered from hunger and thirst the whole way, it was the hardest thing I have ever faced.”

Buulo-samow camp already housed more than 1,000 displaced families from previous conflicts. The recent influx from Awdheegle has worsened the fragile situation.

Muridi Hassan Ookar, the camp leader, said the earlier residents are sharing what little they have with the newcomers, offering cooked food and small amounts of water.

“Families here survive by helping each other, those who can afford a little rice or beans share it with those who have nothing. It’s not enough, but it saves lives for now,” the camp leader said.

A joint committee managing Buulo-samow and Awmacalin camps encourages the slightly better off families to assist the new arrivals. Most newcomers, however, lack even basic cooking utensils.

“People bring ready-cooked meals like rice, porridge, or beans with oil, sometimes they also give small jerrycans of water. That’s how they manage to survive each day,” said the camp leader.

Among the helpers is Ahado Amin Muudey, a 61-year-old widow who fled from Johara village after her eldest son was killed in the fighting. He was 31 and a father of four children, whose care now rests on Ahado’s shoulders.

“Their father died in the war. When he was alive, we never went hungry. The children went to school, and he worked hard on the farm, now there is no work and no food. We eat once or twice a day when we’re lucky,” she said.

Ahado joined Buulo-samow camp in early October. She shares the food she cooks with a neighbouring family even though her own household barely has enough to eat.

“My life depends on the kindness of neighbours, sometimes people bring us food, sometimes they don’t. Whatever I get is what I feed my children,” she added.

Ahado hopes that they can return home once peace is restored so she can cultivate her land again.

“I have a farm waiting for me, if only it was safe to go back,” she said.

Camp leaders say families in Buulo-samow and Awmalim need food, water, and shelter.

“The conditions have become much harder with the new influx. We appeal to international aid agencies to respond quickly. People are suffering from lack of water and proper housing,” said Muridi, the camp leader.

Source Hiiraan Online

Friday  31, October 2025 {HMC}    Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday awarded Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh the National Medal of Honor in recognition of his country’s longstanding support for Somalia’s peace and state-building efforts.

Presenting the medal during a ceremony in Djibouti City, President Mohamud said the honor symbolizes the deep brotherhood, cooperation, and mutual respect between the Somali and Djiboutian peoples.

“This medal represents our gratitude for Djibouti’s unwavering support to Somalia — its people, its government, and its journey toward stability,” President Mohamud said. He added that Somalis continue to celebrate the outcomes of the 2000 Arta Peace Conference, which marked the rebirth of the Somali state after nearly a decade of collapse.

The award presentation followed Wednesday’s commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Arta Conference, held in the city of Arta, where Somali political, clan, and civil society leaders first gathered to reestablish a national government.

In his remarks at the anniversary event, President Guelleh urged Somalis to unite and rebuild their nation through self-reliance and solidarity, rather than depending on external actors.

“The spirit of Arta remains a lesson for the region — that unity and determination among Somalis themselves are the foundation for peace and progress,” Guelleh said.

The Djiboutian leader, who has ruled since 1999, has played a pivotal role in regional peacebuilding efforts, including hosting reconciliation talks and contributing troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), now known as AUSSOM.

Source Hiiraan Online