Tension in Bosaso as police seize key installations

Bosaso, the commercial capital and largest town of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, is reported to be tense after a special force known as the revenue police took over the seaport, airport and the main checkpoint of the town, on 29 July, a local journalist told IRIN. The force engaged in the action supports the new administration named by clan elders on 25 July, Muhammad Deq, editor of the Bosaso-based ‘Sahan’ newspaper, said. The elders, who were meeting in Garowe the regional capital to discuss the controversy surrounding the extension of the mandate of President Abdullahi Yusuf and his administration, last week confirmed Puntland Chief Justice Yusuf Haji Nur as “acting president”. “There is a real fear of a confrontation” between those who still support Abdullahi Yusuf and supporters of the new administration, Muhammad Deq said.

Reports reaching Bosaso say a convoy of three to five battle-wagons carrying a total of about 100 militia left Garowe, the regional capital, on the night of 29 July on its way to Bosaso to reinforce Abdullahi Yusuf’s forces, he said. Meanwhile, Nur’s supporters have set up roadblock at Qayaadsame some 160 km south of Bosaso on the road between Bosaso and Garowe. They are also bringing in militias from the rural areas. “They are on a collision course, and anything can happen at any time,” Muhammad Deq said. Abdullahi Yusuf may have lost the confidence of the people he enjoyed when he was elected in 1998, and it does not look likely that he will regain it, but “he is still a force to be reckoned with” politically and militarily and should not be underestimated, Muhammad Deq cautioned.