Somalia: Somaliland Forces take control of Taleh without resistance
Jun 12, 2014 - 7:55:37 AM
TALEH, Somalia June 12, 2013 (Garowe Online)-Amidst looming threats of
instability in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag, a fresh incursion
into the historic town of Taleh by Somaliland's separatist administration
forces has been reported on Thursday, Garowe Online reports.
Taleh resident said on Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe that
40 fighting vehicles besieged the town by granting Khaatumo 3 Convention
participants including founder and Federal MP Ali Khalif Galaydh a safe
passage out of the town.
"No combat has occurred in the town. Armed ordinary residents are roaming
around here and Khaatumo 3 conference organizers departed either overnight
on Wednesday and in the early hours of [Thursday morning]," he said.
Though, officials couldn't be reached for comments on the matter, reports on
the arrival of Somaliland forces went viral in Taleh over the last few
hours.
On the other hand, speaking on BBC Somali Service Somaliland Armed Forces
Commander-In-Chief Gen. Ismael Shaqale confirmed the military move as normal
operation aimed at securing Somaliland borders.
Separately, Somaliland yesterday deployed hundreds of its troops in Sanaag
region, positioning them in temporary bases near Hingalool district.
The new leader Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas who was elected Puntland's new
president in a narrow victory margin of 33-to-32 parliamentary vote on
January 8, 2014 campaigned for Lasanod issue during presidential elections.
Somaliland's Oil Pursuit
On April 25, Somaliland troops seized Holhol village in Sool, with units
within the forces seizing strategic oil-rich targets.
In Septemper 2013, Anglo-Turkish Oil Exploration Company, Genel Energy
withdrew its expatriates from Somaliland due to political pressure with the
possibility that Federal Government of Somalia threatened license
revocation, Somaliland officials initially disclosed.
A spokesman for the company afterwards told that security issues forced them
to vacate the oil exploration fields in the separatist region.
Somaliland government awarded an exploration license for onshore blocks
SL-10-B and SL-13 with a 75% working interest in August 2012 but Garowe
Online learned that Somaliland renewed the previous license by signing
Oodweyne Production Sharing Agreement which covers blocks SL-6, SL-7 and
SL-10-A in November 2012 with Genel Energy Company.
UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea warned in 2013 confidential
report that Western commercial oil exploration may spark new conflict in
Somalia: "These inconsistencies, unless resolved, may lead to increased
political conflict between federal and regional governments that risk
exacerbating clan divisions and therefore threaten peace and security," the
UN report noted.
In a piece published in Wall Street Journal in late May unveiled that
Somaliland is planning the formation of oil-field protection unit, exposing
international concern over arms embargo and the proliferation of private
companies which would run counter to UN stance.
Somaliland's neighbor to east, Puntland warmed of "consequences" in
Somaliland's pursuit of oil exploration in Sool and Sanaag regions.
"Somaliland is creating conflict in the region. Somaliland cannot give land
to foreign companies to explore oil when the land does not belong to
Somaliland," former Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole said while
he was delivering a keynote address at Puntland State House in Garowe on 1
August, a date on which Puntland people celebrated 15 years of statehood.
Local clan militias who come from the same clan as the self-declared
administration of Khaatumo leaders are said to have been coordinating the
offensives with Somaliland government forces, sources disclosed.
Puntland and Somaliland have fought sporadic battles since 2002 over the
control of territories mainly in Sool region.
Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia unilaterally declared its
independence from the rest of the country as a de facto sovereign state in
1991 but it hasn't been recognized internationally yet.