Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – There have been a series of attacks reported in Somaliland and Puntland, two regions in the north and northeastern regions of Somalia, generally considered safer than the central region where the Islamic militant groups fight against the troops of the Transitional National Government and the Ethiopian army. In Hargeysa, capital of the self-proclaimed Independent State of Somaliland, there have been three suicide attacks on the Presidential Palace, the Ethiopian Embassy, and the local headquarters of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). In Bosaso, the capital of the “semi-independent region” of Puntland, there were another two attacks that seem to be suicide attacks as well, that damaged local security headquarters. The death toll is still undetermined: the authorities of Hargeysa affirm that one person - a Presidential councilor - died in the attack on the Presidential Palace, while another 10 people died in an assault on the UN headquarters. Six policemen died in Puntland.
No one has claimed responsibility for the five attacks, but international observers have noted that they have coincided with the opening session of a regional summit being held in Nairobi (Kenya), to discuss the situation in Somalia. On October 26, in Djibouti, the Transitional National Government and the main opposition party (the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia) with headquarters in Djibouti, signed an accord entitled “Modalities for the Implementation of the Cessation of Armed Confrontation” and a Joint Declaration that establishes ceasefire and the gradual retreat of Ethiopian troops from Somalia. The ceasefire is scheduled to begin November 1, however the radical wing of the armed opposition party has rejected the accord and announced its intention to continue on with the war.
The attacks in Somaliland and Puntland (home to the bases of pirates who threaten navigation along the coasts of Ivory Coast) run the risk of augmenting the fighting, given that the two parties are constantly threatening one another over border issues (see Fides 30/10/2004 and 29/10/2007). According to a local periodical (Garowe Online), the Puntland authorities supposedly began preparing for an “imminent” war with Somaliland. A small naval fleet is being formed there (made up mostly of NATO countries), with the intention of protecting civilian ships from pirate attacks, while questions remain as to the destination of the captured cargo, among which is that of the “Faina,” the cargo ship that was carrying heavy armor on board and has been in the hands of the pirates for a month now (see Fides 2/10/2008). (Agenzia Fides 29/10/2008)
