Somalia: Puntland cabinet debates any possible AMISOM operation

GAROWE, Somalia, May 14, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Puntland cabinet ministers have nullified any possible African Union Mission in Puntland in a weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Garowe Online reports.

Presidential spokesman said in statement that a meeting presided over by Vice President Abdihakin Abdullahi Haji Omar Amey focused on the arrival of African Union forces on anti-Al Shabaab offensive in Puntland to help low-morale Puntland forces dislodge Al Shabaab militants from bases in the rugged terrain of Galgala any time, and the endorsement of national commissions.

“Puntland cabinet members hereby confirm that AMISOM troops can’t be brought to Puntland. [We] made our standpoint clear to the international partners and people of Puntland that the government is capable of defending its borders and territories,” read the press statement.

On the recent approval of three committees by federal cabinet, Puntland said it was not consulted on the selection of commissions members: “[The national-level commissions] are not constitutional”.

The northeastern state warned commission members of coming to Puntland, noting it will not recognize the composition of National Electoral Board, Boundary Committee and Judicial Service Commission.

On May 7, UN envoy to Somalia Ambassador Nicholas Kay said in an interview with Reuters that the expansion of AMISOM operations into Puntland was under active consideration, without specifying a date.

Puntland is facing unrelenting terror violence, with Al Shabaab gunmen opting for military style ambushes and night raids, largely in the Gulf of Aden Port City of Bossaso.

On Tuesday, more than 20 MPs demanded emergency parliamentary session on what they described unprecedented Al Shabaab attacks, long overdue salaries of government employees and army and imminent external threat.