SSCK Information Minister Outlines Legal Framework for Prosecuting Somaliland Administration Detainees in Laascaanood

[Deeq A.]

The President of the Somaliland Administration, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, who also serves as chairman of the Waddani Party, endorsed the indiscriminate shelling of Laascaanood in 2023.

Garowe (PP Editorial) — The Information Minister of Sool, Sanaag, Cayn and Khatumo administration, Najib Barkhadle Warsame, has briefed the media on the legal process wherein the new Federal Member State will lawfully prosecute Somaliland Administration detainees in Laascaanood.

On 25th August 2023, allied Harti forces overran a Somaliland Administration “army” battalions then based at Gojaade Barracks, on the outskirts of Lascanood. More than 350 Somaliland administration troops were captured along with their heavy and light weapons and supplies.

Somaliland Administrator Forces began to shell Lascanood from 6 February 2023, when the formation of the SSCK Administration was declared. The secessionist administration falsely claimed that its forces were fighting Al-Shabaab. That claim is a lie. No Somaliland Administration political party rejected that blatant falsehood.

The SSCK Administration released over twenty detainees from the Somaliland Administration on humanitarian grounds.

The incumbent President of Somaliland Administration, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, who is  the chairman of Waddani Party, supported the pretext that his predecessor, President Muse Bihi Abdi, used to authorise indiscriminate shelling of Laascaanood. This led to the death of more than 900 civilians and the destruction of houses, schools, health clinics and businesses in Laascaanood.

The Somaliland political class supported the secessionist administration’s claim used by Bihi to justify continued shelling of Laascaanood. Bihi claimed  that the city was not part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

What made the 2023 Lascanood conflict different from previous conflicts in Somalia was not only its duration (6 months and 19 days), but also the wilful reporting of atrocities by Somaliland Administration forces.

The SSCK Interim Administration Minister said that Somaliland detainees fall into different categories. He noted that some soldiers had direct involvement in the shelling and obeyed orders to wage war against the people of Laascaanood,  who have suffered untold and unprecedented hardship since the 1990s.

SSCK leader Abdulqadir Aw Ali stated that his administration was open to mediation by the Federal Government of Somalia to help resolve the conflict in northern Somalia.

The Somaliland administration rejected calls from the UN Security Council to withdraw its troops from the outskirts of Lascanood. In response, Harti clansmen mobilised forces, pushing them as far as Baargaal, Caluula, Bosaso, Galdogob and other districts in the Puntland State of Somalia.

Earlier this year, Abdulqadir Aw Ali, leader of the SSCK Administration, suggested that his administration “welcomed mediation by the Federal Government of Somalia” to end the conflict in northern Somalia.

The new Somaliland Administration turned a blind eye to the displacement of Somali citizens in Ceerigaabo, who are  politically represented by SSCK Administration and Puntland State.  Militias formed by the former Somaliland Administration President following the Gojaade defeat seized properties in Ceerigaabo that belonged to Sool clan and East Sanaag Clan residents.

The planned prosecution of Somaliland Administration detainees in Lascanood marks a new chapter in holding perpetrators of political violence and forced displacement accountable for war crimes. The SSCK Administration should ensure that detainees put on trial receive legal representation. The oversight of the Federal judiciary in this prosecution is crucial. SSCK Administration has been  commended for releasing over twenty Somaliland detainees on humanitarian grounds.

© Puntland Post, 2025

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