The Goverment of Puntland Press Statement Galgala Humanitarian Appeal

Uprooting Al Shabab and Restoring Community Life to the Galgala Farmers and Nearby Settlements

On the Morning of October 1, 2014, the Puntland security forces mounted a frontal attack on the hideouts of the terrorist group, Al Shabab in the mountainous area in and around the farming village of Galgala. As is widely known, Al Shabab killers have devastated the

previously thriving agricultural communities of Galgala and nearby settlements. They have destroyed historic farms and displaced the residents of a number of settlements, rendering them IDPs (Internally Displaced People) in their own land. As in elsewhere in Somalia, the Al

Shabab terror group has over the years sought to destabilize the wider Puntland community through targeted killings of government officials, religious imams and community leaders.

With this campaign, the Government of Puntland State of Somalia, under the leadership of H.E. President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas, is fully committed to uprooting Al Shabab, root and branch, beginning with the successful capture of their mountain hideouts. Those strategic

locations are now firmly under the control of the Puntland security forces and they shall, God willing, remain there indefinitely. We are confident that Al Shabab’s days of posing clear and present danger to Puntland State is coming to a close.

The next phase of this campaign, which we expect to be relatively longer in duration, is to return the displaced residents of the mountainous communities, including Galgala to their homes and farms, many of which have been severely damaged or destroyed by Al Shabab.

It is in this crucial phase of the campaign that Puntland is appealing to the International community for support in resettling the said displaced communities. Returning these hardworking citizens to the productive lives they led in the recent past is as great a victory over

Al Shabab terror as the successful campaign of the Puntland security forces. Puntland, therefore, appeals to members of the International Donor community for urgent humanitarian assistance and resettlement support for the displaced communities in and around the Galgala Mountains.