By WDM Editorial Board
Reports of armed confrontation between armed forces in Laag, outside Bosaso City today are deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable.
Whatever the immediate trigger, one fact remains beyond dispute: Puntland cannot tolerate competing centres of armed power. Political disagreements are inevitable in every society; private armies are not.
This is not simply another security incident. It is a test of whether Puntland still possesses the political will to defend the very foundations upon which it was built.
Puntland did not emerge from chaos by accident. It was painstakingly constructed through reconciliation, consensus, institution-building and the painful lessons of Somalia’s state collapse. The architects of Puntland understood one fundamental truth: a government that does not control the instruments of force is not a government at all. The moment armed groups begin operating outside the authority of the state, the state itself begins to wither.
That is why Bosaso matters.
Bosaso is not merely Puntland’s commercial capital or its busiest seaport. It is the economic lifeline of the State and one of the Horn of Africa’s most strategic maritime gateways. Every gunshot fired near Bosaso sends a damaging message to merchants, investors, shipping companies and ordinary citizens: that security can no longer be taken for granted. No economy prospers under the shadow of rival militias.
Somalia’s tragic history offers an unmistakable warning. States do not collapse overnight. They decay gradually when governments begin making excuses for armed groups, tolerate politically connected militias, or allow clan loyalties to override the rule of law. What begins as a “temporary arrangement” eventually becomes permanent disorder. Before long, politics is no longer conducted through dialogue and institutions but through the barrel of a gun.
Puntland must never walk that road.
The Government of Puntland must therefore act decisively, impartially and within the law. Every armed formation operating outside the recognised security institutions should be disarmed, demobilised and disbanded without exception. There should be no sacred cows, no politically protected militias, no selective justice and no double standards. The law either applies equally to everyone or it protects no one.
This is not a call for indiscriminate force. It is a call for the restoration of lawful authority. Those with legitimate political grievances have numerous constitutional avenues through which to express them: dialogue, Parliament, the courts, traditional mediation and peaceful political organisation. Carrying weapons outside the state command is not political participation; it is an assault on constitutional order.
Puntland’s early administrations understood this principle. Whenever individuals attempted to challenge public order through displays of armed strength, the state’s response was swift, lawful and unmistakable. Disorder was confronted before it became rebellion. Agitators were summoned, questioned and, where necessary, prosecuted. The objective was never revenge. It was deterrence. It was to send a clear message that no individual or clan stood above the law.
Unfortunately, that institutional culture has weakened over time. Too often, governments have confused patience with indecision and compromise with surrender. Armed actors have become emboldened because they increasingly believe the state lacks either the courage or the capacity to confront them. Nothing could be more dangerous.
Traditional elders, religious scholars, business leaders and civil society also have a solemn responsibility. They must reject every attempt to normalise armed politics. Silence today may become regret tomorrow. Every respected voice in Puntland should speak with one message: differences belong around negotiating tables, not behind gun barrels.
The confrontation near Laag must therefore serve as a national wake-up call. Puntland stands at a crossroads. One path leads towards stronger institutions, professional security forces and the supremacy of law. The other leads towards fragmentation, parallel military structures and the slow erosion of everything Puntland has painstakingly built since 1998.
History will not remember how many excuses were offered for today’s confrontation. It will remember whether Puntland’s leaders had the courage to defend the State when it mattered most.
The message should therefore be unmistakable and final: all forces of instability operating outside the authority of Puntland State must be disarmed and disbanded immediately. No political ambition, no clan calculation and no personal grievance can ever justify maintaining parallel armed forces.
The first duty of any government is not to negotiate with illegality but to uphold the law. If Puntland cannot enforce that simple principle, it risks surrendering tomorrow what generations sacrificed to build yesterday.
The time for hesitation has passed. Restore the state’s monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Defend Bosaso. Defend Puntland. Defend the rule of law—before another avoidable crisis becomes another irreversible chapter in Somalia’s long history of self-inflicted decline.
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