Laascaanood Conflict and the Indifference of the International Community in Somalia

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — In Northern Somalia a civil war is raging. The Somaliland administration claims to have seceded from Somalia in 1991. Unlike Eritrea and South Sudan, two countries that did not unilaterally secede from Ethiopia and Sudan respectively, Somaliland opted for a war and rejectionist position on the sovereignty of Somalia over negotiation and persuasion.

The Laascaanood conflict began 51 days ago, making it the second, longest conflict after the three-month war in Mogadishu of November 1991-February 1992. Laascaanood is now a ghost town. People had to flee because of shelling by Somaliland forces. The UN Security Council addressed the conflict in a session on Somalia. Calls for political accountability for the conflict fell on deaf ears.

The International Community, a major funder of Somaliland administration institutions fell short of its role to remind Somali political stakeholders to respect the consent of the people. 32 years after the collapse of the state in Somalia, Northern Somalia is going through a civil war whose repercussions could be felt for a long time due of breakdown of cohesion based on peaceful co-existence and mutual respect for political goals of unionists and secessionists.

The International Community could have exerted pressure on Somaliland whose decision to wage a secessionist war is based on the 1991 unilateral secession and 2001 unilateral referendum. The conflict in Northern Somalia is now correctly being framed as a civil war.

Somaliland administration claimed that its forces were fighting terrorists before calling for a unilateral ceasefire. Laascaanood is federally represented by Puntland State of Somalia. The claim of Somaliland administration that Laascaanood is not a part of the Federal Republic of Somalia turns the a political problem into a securitisation agenda through which Somaliland falsely labels Laascaanood a haven for terrorists.

The Federal Government of Somalia called on Somaliland administration to adhere to the principle of governance by consent, not rule by oppression. The indifference of the International Community to the Laascaanood conflict sends wrong messages to forces bent destabilisation of Somalia, a country grappling the impact of homegrown militant and extremist outfit linked with the transnational terrorism. It is time the International Community reined in Somaliland administration leaders.

© Puntland Post, 2023

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