Heavy fighting broke out at dawn on Wednesday in the eastern part of Galkayo, capital of Somalia’s Mudug region, after Puntland forces began shelling a base held by the Puntland Security Force (PSF), local
GALKAYO, Somalia: (Horseed Media) — Heavy fighting erupted before dawn on Wednesday in eastern Galkayo after Puntland state forces shelled a base held by the Puntland Security Force (PSF), a force whose members have recently aligned themselves with Somalia’s federal government, residents and local sources said.
Witnesses said both sides exchanged mortar and heavy machine-gun fire near Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed Airport. A boy was killed and his mother wounded when a mortar round landed in a residential neighbourhood, residents said. The total number of casualties was not immediately known, and neither side had released official figures.
The fighting sent residents fleeing from neighbourhoods close to the airport as explosions echoed across northern Galkayo. Local businesses remained closed in parts of the city, while traffic was disrupted as security forces took up positions around key roads.
The confrontation raises fresh concerns over security coordination in Puntland, whose forces have been at the forefront of operations against Islamic State militants in the Cal Miskaad mountains this year. Any prolonged internal fighting could complicate those counterterrorism efforts.
Neither the Puntland administration nor the federal government had immediately issued a statement on the fighting. Horseed Media sought comment from Puntland officials and Somalia’s Ministry of Defence but had not received responses at the time of publication.
Background
The clashes mark the most serious escalation since tensions between Somalia’s federal government and the Puntland administration intensified in July over the recruitment and deployment of security forces in the region.
The PSF was established in the early 2000s as an intelligence-led counterterrorism unit and played a central role in Puntland’s campaigns against al-Shabaab and Islamic State militants in the Cal Madow and Cal Miskaad mountain ranges.
Relations between the force and Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni’s administration deteriorated after his election in 2019, culminating in deadly clashes in Bosaso in 2021. Although an agreement was later reached to resolve the dispute, key provisions were never fully implemented, and Puntland authorities have since maintained that the force no longer operates within the state’s official security structure.
Tensions resurfaced after newly recruited units, which Mogadishu says are part of Somalia’s national armed forces, were deployed in Puntland. The Puntland administration rejected the move, accusing the federal government of undermining the state’s constitutional authority over its security institutions.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has acknowledged that the federal government recruited soldiers from Puntland, describing the effort as part of the national armed forces. Puntland leaders, however, have characterised the recruitment as interference in the state’s internal affairs.
Somalia’s provisional constitution assigns the federal government primary responsibility for national defence, but the division of security powers between Mogadishu and the federal member states remains disputed, with both sides offering differing interpretations of their respective mandates.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently said the federal government and Puntland currently have “no real relationship,” underscoring the depth of the political rift despite both remaining part of Somalia’s federal system.
Galkayo, a strategically important city divided between Puntland in the north and Galmudug in the south, has experienced repeated outbreaks of violence over the past two decades. Fighting between rival administrations in 2015 and 2017 displaced thousands of civilians before mediation efforts restored relative calm.
The latest violence threatens to deepen an already fragile political dispute at a time when Somalia’s security forces are engaged in separate military campaigns against al-Shabaab and Islamic State insurgents.
This is a developing story. Casualty figures and other details could not be independently verified, and Horseed Media will update this report as more information becomes available.
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