Following deadly clashes last week in the capital Garowe that claimed about 30 lives, Puntland President Abdullahi Deni has made changes to the police command in the Nugaal, Karkar, Gardafu, and Sanaag regions.
President Deni appointed Mohamed Ali Ahmed as the police commandant of the Nugaal region, whose administrative offices are in Garowe, by order on Saturday. General Hussein Ali Mohamud is replaced by Ahmed as police chief in the Karkar region.
Fuad Mohamud Hussein was transferred to lead the police command in the Gardafu region, while General Adan Ahmed Ali now serves as the police commandant in the Sanaag region.
Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Qasim Jama Shire was named commander of the Puntland Danab Special Forces unit.
The Nugal or Garowe regions are home to many of Deni’s picks.
In Garowe city, where opposition politicians have vigorously contested Deni’s plans for the upcoming elections and constitution unveiling, observers believe this to be a strategic move to reduce political and security tensions.
Deni has eliminated positions held by people suspected of maintaining close ties with opposition politicians, who previously held significant influence over the appointment of those who have been dismissed, further shaking up the system.
Puntland is one of a number of autonomous and semi-autonomous regions in Somalia, where no central authority has fully controlled the entire territory for decades. Clan rivalries and lingering grouses due to colonial legacies have also exacerbated political divisions.
Somaliland, the nearby autonomous region that seceded from Somalia in 1991, is disputing ownership of the city of La Anod, which the Dhulbahante clan of Puntland claims as its capital. Since February 6 when fighting began in the city, more than 300 people have died and more than 200,000 have been displaced
