Abdullahi Yusuf takes Qardho

Col Abdullahi Yusuf has captured the town of Qardho, 240 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, a local journalist told IRIN on Tuesday.

Forces loyal to Abdullahi entered the town on Monday without a fight, with forces loyal to his rival for the presidency of the region, Jama Ali Jama, having retreated, said Fadumo Yasin of the Bosaso-based Midnimo radio. Qardho is a strategically important town and was one of Jama's last remaining strongholds.

"The Darawish [Abdullahi Yusuf's] forces entered Qardo at 10:30 a.m. local time [07:30 GMT]", Fadumo told IRIN on Tuesday. "There was no fighting inside the town, and the Darawish are in full control", she said. Abdullahi's forces had met very little resistance from the militia loyal to Jama. "There was some fighting in Sanjilbo village, 12 km north of Qardho, but it lasted less than 20 minutes."

In that battle, Abdullahi's forces reportedly captured a prominent figure in Puntland. "One of the prisoners captured was Muhammad Haji Adan," Fadumo told IRIN. He had been livestock minister in Abdullahi's first administration, but subsequently defected to the Jama camp and became a fierce opponent of the colonel, a source in Garowe, the regional capital, told IRIN.

Abdullahi was currently in Qardho, where he had been warmly welcomed by the residents, Isma'il Warsame, Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of cabinet told IRIN. Isma'il said that "the president is meeting elders today [Tuesday] to discuss security issues", and would spend the next couple of days in Qardho to meet the people. "The Puntland security forces will proceed to Garowe very soon", Isma'il said. "Puntland will then return to its renowned peace and stability."

Meanwhile, Jama's forces had reportedly collapsed and dispersed into the mountains around Qardho, the source in Garowe said. He doubted that they could mount any serious counter-offensive capable of challenging Abdullahi's forces.

"The fighting in Puntland seems to be at an end for now," the source said. "Whether it is the end of Jama Ali Jama and his supporters is a different matter. It will all depend on how successful Abdullahi Yusuf is in winning the hearts and minds of the people."

Controversy over Puntland's leadership has been increasingly vocal since June 2001, when Abdullahi, whose presidential term ended then, claimed that parliament had extended his mandate.

A number of Puntland's traditional elders meeting in Garowe in July 2001 rejected his claim, and named Yusuf Haji Nur, Puntland's former chief justice, as "acting president" until the election of a new administration. The elders then convened a general congress in August and, on 14 November 2001, elected Jama Ali to a three-year term in the hope that this would end the leadership wrangle.

Puntland declared itself autonomous in 1998, following a conference of local elders. Abdullahi Yusuf was then elected as the region's first president for a three-year term.