Puntland: More than 250 troops in Puntland defected positions to form a militia
More than 250 soldiers loyal to Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland have defected from the pirate infested region to form a clan militia, source reports.
According to Hargeisa-based newspaper Haatuf, more than 250 troops, who took part in the August 2010 Galgala conflict between Abdirahman Farole of Garowe and a local warlord, Sheikh Mohamed Atam, have established their own base outside Badhan. The troops, who belong to the Warsangeli tribe is led by Abdulrasaq Kun-Liq. The defected troops have not joined a Somaliland base in the town either.
The paper also revealed other members of the army that was in the area have deserted their positions and returned to the town of Gardo (Qardho), in the district of Karkaar, in Puntland.
The Galgala conflict erupted late last year when the President of Puntland Abdirahman Farole vowed to please oil companies who had signed a secret mineral exploration rights with his predecessor. In October 2005, Mohamed Muse Hirsi (Ade), then Puntland leader, inked a Heads of Agreement with Australia’s Range Resources, that gave the company “to acquire a 50.1% interest in the sole and exclusive rights to all mineral and hydrocarbon exploration and development in the Somali state of Puntland region”.