Wednesday July 30, 2025 {HMC} Puntland’s regional parliament has accused Somalia’s federal government of deliberately inciting political and tribal conflict in several volatile regions, including Gedo, Sanaag, and Haylaan—an allegation that further deepens the rift between Mogadishu and one of its most powerful federal member states.

In a strongly worded resolution passed Tuesday, the Puntland House of Representatives condemned what it called “federal interference” in regional affairs, specifically pointing to the Gedo region of Jubbaland, where clashes have erupted repeatedly over the past ten days. Lawmakers described the government’s actions in Gedo as “an illegal invasion” and warned that continued meddling threatens national cohesion and risks igniting wider unrest.

The latest fighting broke out in Beled Hawo, a border town in Gedo, where federal troops and Jubbaland-aligned forces clashed for the fourth time in less than two weeks. The confrontation came amid the deployment of Abdirashid Janan—a former Jubbaland security minister who is now serving as the regional head of Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and overseeing federal stabilization operations in Gedo.
“The federal government must refrain from escalating tensions in regions like Gedo,” the Puntland Parliament warned in its statement. “Such actions endanger the fragile peace among the SSC communities and other vulnerable areas.”

The resolution also called for urgent cooperation among federal member states—specifically Galmudug and Hirshabelle—and the central government to address the deteriorating security landscape in central Somalia. The lawmakers stressed that Al-Shabaab continues to exploit political divisions, urging a unified front against the militant group.

Puntland’s appeal extended to the international community, asking for “concrete support in intelligence and security operations” to empower both the Somali federal government and regional administrations in the ongoing fight against extremism.

Source Hiiraan onnline

Wednesday July 30, 2025 {HMC} Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Cirro has announced that his administration is prepared to host a U.S. military base in the port city of Berbera and offer access to valuable mineral resources, including lithium, as part of a broader strategy to gain international recognition.

In an interview with Bloomberg, President Cirro revealed that Somaliland has established “good relations” with both the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of State, signaling growing ties between the self-declared republic and Washington.

“If the U.S. is interested in establishing a base in Somaliland, we welcome it,” said Cirro, adding that his government is ready to offer a deal involving the critical mineral lithium—a key component in electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage. While Somaliland does not currently produce lithium, a Saudi Arabian company, Kilomass Co., was granted exploration rights in 2024 to survey land with potential lithium deposits, according to the Somaliland Chronicle.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains unrecognized internationally, has long sought to assert its sovereignty through stability, democratic governance, and engagement with global partners.

“Our main goal remains international recognition,” Cirro emphasized. “But the path to that goal lies in cooperating with the world on security, trade, counterterrorism, piracy, and smuggling.”

The strategic port city of Berbera, located on the Gulf of Aden, already hosts a UAE military presence and serves as a logistical hub for regional maritime operations. U.S. interest in expanding its military footprint in the Horn of Africa could place Somaliland in a pivotal position amid growing geopolitical competition.

In addition to potential lithium reserves, Somaliland is known for its deposits of iron ore, gemstones, gypsum, and gold, according to a 2023 African Mining report. President Cirro sees the country’s untapped natural wealth as another incentive for international engagement.

The president also announced plans to visit the United States to discuss deeper bilateral cooperation. “The agreements we are entering into with the United States are not conditional on recognition, but we believe that such cooperation can foster better understanding and appreciation,” he said.

Cirro reiterated that Somaliland’s long-term strategy centers on securing peace, expanding the economy, and deepening international ties—all aimed at achieving formal statehood.

Despite the lack of international recognition, Somaliland has maintained a functioning government, held democratic elections, and developed its own currency, security forces, and passport system. The latest diplomatic overture to the United States marks a new chapter in its decades-long campaign for global legitimacy.

Source Hiiraan onnline

Wednesday July 30, 2025 {HMC} Somalia’s Director General of Immigration and Citizenship Agency (ICA), Mustafa Sheikh Cali Dhuxulow, met with Dr. Dieter Romann, President of Germany’s Federal Police Headquarters, in a high-level meeting focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation on migration and border security.

The meeting, part of an official working visit to Germany, brought together senior officials from both nations to discuss improved coordination between migration institutions, the deployment of advanced technologies for border control, and efforts to enhance the recognition and credibility of the Somali passport on the global stage.

According to a statement from the ICA, the talks aimed to “address current challenges while enhancing the global standing of the Somali passport and supporting safe, legal mobility for Somali citizens.”
The two sides also explored collaboration on curbing organized crime and human trafficking, improving infrastructure at Somalia’s international airports, and expanding capacity-building programs for ICA personnel. Germany shared insights into its own migration management systems, with the Somali delegation receiving detailed briefings on institutional best practices.

As part of the visit, Dhuxulow and his team toured Berlin International Airport, observing the use of cutting-edge technology in day-to-day border operations—a move Somalia hopes to replicate in its own modernization efforts.

Germany remains one of the European Union’s largest hosts of Somali migrants, making bilateral cooperation on migration policy and secure mobility a strategic priority for both nations.

Surce Hiiraan onnline

Wednesday July 30, 2025 {HMC} Shifting sand dunes in Puntland’s Nugal region have destroyed the recent harvests of farmers living in Godobjiran, where drought and loss of vegetation have led to environmental catastrophe.

Mohamed Shire Adan, whose three‑hectare farm has supported his family since 2017, saw all the vegetables and grains that he had planted after good seasonal rains buried beneath metre‑high drifts of sand.

He had planned to sell beans and watermelons wholesale in Garowe and Galkayo in June, expecting at least $3,000 in income. Instead, by harvest time his crops and profits lay deep under sand.

“The farm my family depended on has been buried, and we can now eat only once or twice a day,” he said.

“We used to have abundance from the farm and cooked three times a day. The children had school and education, but I’ve had to stop their formal education due to lack of money. The Koranic teacher is still teaching the children, as I’m hoping I can find something to pay him.”

In February, Mohamed borrowed $1,200 from traders for seeds and labour, confident the harvest would enable him to clear the debt. Today those creditors demand repayment despite his ruined fields.

“I feel dazed by the losses I’ve incurred and the debt I owe, the debt at the shop, the cash I put into the farm that I can’t pay back — it’s countless, it’s abnormal…it’s the biggest loss I’ve ever had, and it’s been caused by the sand,” he told Radio Ergo.

Pushed by winds from off the coast, the sand had been inching onto his land over the past three years. The advance accelerated this May, after repeated droughts in the area stripped away the grass and shrubs that held the soil in place.

Community efforts since 2023 to plant windbreaks and install sand‑net barriers have failed to halt the sand encroachment.

Another local farmer Diriye Abdirahman Ahmed, who planted his two‑hectares in March, says he has sunk from prosperity to destitution.

His family of 10 now cooks only once a day and is living on 12 kilograms each of rice flour and sugar donated by relatives.

“Our family’s life is very difficult now. Sometimes we have lunch and dinner, sometimes only one meal. We depended on this farm, but the sand has ruined it. None of the crops I planted will grow as the farm has turned into mounds of sand. I don’t have the capacity to deal with it, nor do I know anyone else who can do anything about it,” Diriye said.

He had invested $800 in the farm, expecting to recover that amount and make a good profit from the sales of his harvest.

“In the past we sold our produce in Garowe and Galkayo, making up to $3,000. We lived on some of that and also reinvested in the farm.”

This year instead, he has debts totalling $230 to shopkeepers, who won’t offer him any more credit.

The chairman of the local farmers’ cooperative, Adan Jama Qasaal, confirmed that every farm in Godobjeran over an area of 10 square kilometres had been engulfed by sand. The catastrophe affected 38 households with an average of 12 members in each.

He said they needed a bulldozer to clear the sand from the agricultural land, and open up the blocked mouths of the valleys.

“We also need to track the sand to its source, and conduct reforestation there. We are good at self‑reliance and we work hard, but we don’t have the money to buy a bulldozer. We’ve shared our plight with the regional and district authorities, the crisis is it’s well known, but we haven’t received any concrete action from Puntland,” he said.

The cooperative made a formal appeal to the Puntland Ministry of Agriculture in June for heavy machinery and support for large‑scale tree‑planting, but hasn’t received a response.

Environmental officers say that desertification driven by climate change, overgrazing and deforestation is the cause of the problem of shifting sand. Once vegetation dies back or is cut down, exposed soil is vulnerable to wind erosion, allowing sand to smother fields and irrigation channels.

Source Radio Ergo

Wednesday July 30, 2025 {HMC} Sudan has yet again condemned what it terms as the approval and facilitation by Kenya of preparatory meetings held by the rebel group Rapid Support Forces in Nairobi, which have culminated into the announcement of a parallel government.

In a statement by the Foreign Affairs ministry, Sudan reiterated that Kenya’s actions constitute a blatant violation of its sovereignty and a breach of the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.

“It also contradicts the principles and charters of the United Nations, the African Union and IGAD, all of which support the unity and territorial integrity of Sudan,” it added.

RSF on Saturday announced a 15-member parallel government, naming General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias Hemedti, as the head of the presidential council.

In the line-up, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North, one of the country’s largest rebel groups, was named Hemedti’s deputy.

The council also named Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi as prime minister, as well as regional governors in the areas they control. The announcement was made in a press conference in Nyala city, Darfur region.

The announcement came after months of denial by Kenya’s top leadership that what RSF agreed to in Nairobi in February was not a resolution to form a parallel government in Sudan.

Against the wishes of the junta government in Sudan, Kenya opened its doors to RSF for a series of meetings at the KICC in February, which were attended by the top leadership of rebel outfit and allied parties, including Hemedti’s brother and deputy Abdul Rahim Dagalo.

Following the meetings, RSF and its allies under the Sudan Founding Alliance announced the formation of a parallel government that would lead a “new secular Sudan” and signed a new constitution.

Despite the RSF clearly saying they were establishing a parallel government, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs ministry denied, arguing it was offering a platform for the parties to the conflict to express their grievances.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the Sudan Founding Alliance move to announce a charter in Nairobi and proposed leadership is compatible with Kenya’s role in peace negotiation.

Mudavadi, who is also the CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, said Kenya is obligated to provide non-partisan platforms to conflict parties to seek resolutions.

“Kenya has established a history of facilitating dialogue between conflicting parties from neighbouring and regional states, including providing good offices that have seen peace agreements signed in Kenya,” he said.

“When Kenya offers this space, it is without any ulterior motives. It is because we believe there is no military solution to political disputes”.

Mudavadi reiterated the position in April during the quarterly diplomatic meeting in Nairobi.

He told diplomats the conference was meant to offer good offices to the Sudanese parties on their right to self-determination, adding there was a need to scrutinise the signed charter to avoid misinformation.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no government of Sudan was declared or formed in Kenya, in Nairobi. I want that to be understood very clearly because there has been some misinformation that a parallel government of Sudan has been formed in Kenya. That is not true,” Mudavadi said.

Following RSF’s announcement of the parallel government, the Sudan junta government has urged all neighbouring countries, the international community, regional and international organisations and other relevant entities to denounce the declaration.

It further urges them not to recognise or engage with “the illegitimate entity announced by the terrorist militia”.

In March, RSF and allied parties announced they would be seeking international recognition from domestic legitimacy.

But the Sudan government has warned any form of interaction with the parallel government will be considered a direct assault on the legitimate government of Sudan and its sovereignty over all of its territory. It will also consider a flagrant violation of the rights and resources of the Sudanese people.

by ELIUD KIBII