By WDM Editorial Board Puntland cannot claim victory over insecurity while armed groups still roam its cities and revenge killings continue to dictate justice. Stability is not achieved by press conferences, temporary deployments, or political speeches. It is achieved when the state alone possesses the legitimate monopoly on force.The reality is uncomfortable. Galkayo, Bosaso, Qardho, … Continue reading Puntland: Half Measures Won’t Cut →
Unconfirmed Reports: PSF Remnants Allegedly Seeking New Bases in SSC Territory EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a developing story based on unconfirmed reports. Independent verification is still pending. If these reports prove accurate, they would signal that remnants of the PSF are attempting to regroup rather than disband by relocating their operational bases in Bosaso and … Continue reading BREAKING | WDM →
A WDM Editorial Disarm the Clan Militias. End Political Violence. Restore the Rule of Law. A state cannot coexist with private armies.It is as simple as that.Every time a political disagreement in Puntland is settled with armed mobilization instead of constitutional process, the state loses a little more of its authority. Every revenge killing carried … Continue reading The Gun or the Law? Puntland Cannot Have Both →
Reported by Abdilatif Ahmed The Puntland Diaspora Community in the United Kingdom (UK) expresses its deep concern regarding the escalating security situation and strongly condemns what it views as actions by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the Federal Government of Somalia that are increasing military tensions and instability affecting Puntland. According to information received by … Continue reading Statement Issued by the Puntland Diaspora Community in the United Kingdom (UK) →
Translated from Somali by WDM Desk Mogadishu, August 4th, 2026 The Future Somalia Council strongly condemns the weapons and forces being deployed to the city of Galkacyo by Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, the President whose term has expired, actions that have created a climate of conflict and pose a serious threat to peace, stability, and the … Continue reading FUTURE SOMALIA COUNCIL – PRESS STATEMENT →
A WDM EditorialA government’s priorities are revealed not by its speeches, but by where it commits its soldiers, its money, and its political energy. Today, Somalia faces an uncomfortable question: why does a Federal Government whose constitutional mandate expired months ago appear more determined to escalate tensions in Galkayo than to liberate Somali territory still … Continue reading Fight al-Shabaab, Not Federalism: Why Galkayo Should Not Become Mogadishu’s New Front →
PRESS STATEMENT Translated from Somali by WDM Desk Garowe, Puntland — Date: 4 August 2026The Puntland Government condemns the outgoing Federal Government of Somalia for deploying troops and weapons into areas under Puntland’s administration. Today, 4 August 2026, the Federal Government offloaded additional weapons in Galkacyo city — specifically on the Galmudug side — intending … Continue reading PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA →
By A M Yusuf (Educator and socio-political analyst based in London, UK) Former Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke’s recent statement on X — “Galkacyo is not Calmiskaad” — is technically correct but politically misleading. The line was posted as a warning against Puntland “waging a war of aggression against fellow Puntland Forces,” a … Continue reading Galkacyo Is Not Calmiskaad — But That Isn’t the Point →
October 19, 2025 WARSAME DIGITAL MEDIA (WDM)Critical Analysis, History, and Political Commentary By Ismail H. Warsame The Day Suspicion Became Survival It was one of those mornings in Addis Ababa in early 1985 when the SSDF Secretariat Office felt unusually tense. The war against tyranny was being waged not only in the field but also … Continue reading The Letter That Shook Addis Ababa: SSDF, Betrayal, and the Shadow War Against Abdullahi Yusuf →
By Abdilatif Ahmed Talk of a deeper, longer-term security partnership between Puntland and the United States, potentially involving an expanded American footprint in Bosaso, would mark one of the more consequential developments in the Horn of Africa’s recent security landscape. It is worth noting this is not a cooperation being built from scratch: U.S. forces … Continue reading Puntland–United States Cooperation in Bosaso: Strategic Opportunities and Emerging Challenges →
Dear Ismail
Sharia courts have been operating in Puntland including capital City of Garowe, in Somaliland and in many cities of Somalia on an amicable terms. The condition to rule is that the two sides of the dispute agree on resorting to the private arbitration courts based on Islamic jurisprudence. The difference between these private courts and Puntland lowers courts which apply sharia law is that their verdict isn’t binding as those of Puntland justice system and individuals involved cam take the matters to the other courts. These private courts are not different from many arbitration courts in US & Europe which have had even series of movie episodes, some of them widely respected and accepted. Taking them to extremes as you mentioned in your breaking-news-style sensation isn’t absolutely quite wrong and beyond reasonable judgement.
Do they need licenses from the government to operate in the country?
Since their verdict isn’t binding, they are a form of arbitrations which are performed by the elders or businessmen to solve disputes. Government has not yet requested them to register.
What you are talking about is an ad hoc religious groups dealing disputes between parties in remote areas of the country.. Here, it is about organized teams in Puntland Capital City, and perhaps elsewhere, for profit without any means to enforce their judgments at moment, but have the potential to grow as parallel judiciary organizations in urban centres. Nobody is concerned about settlement of disputes through Sharia among the nomads in the countryside.
Sorry I meant to say “Taking them to extremes as you mentioned in your breaking-news-style sensation is absolutely quite wrong and beyond reasonable judgement”.
Apologies.