By Faisal Roble
A Place called Garacad
Many of us never heard a place called Garacad; that is before March 15, 2016. Garacad is now a household name both in Somalia and abroad thanks to a sea-born, heavily armed, about 200-strong force of Al-Shabab infiltrators that crossed the maritime borders of Puntland. Perched on the tip of the famous Horn of Africa, Puntland is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the East, the Red Sea to the North, Somaliland and Ethiopia to West, and the Galmudug region of Southcentral Somalia. Considering that to the north is the Gollis Mountain Range where Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists have dug in for years, Puntland’s neighbors anything but friendly.
On the edge of the Indian Ocean sits Garacad, a remote fishing town and one of several historical towns that dot Puntland’s over 1,600 km?–long coast line. On March 15, 2016, the residents of this sparsely populated sleepy town woke up to hords of Al-Shabab militia on their doorsteps. Earlier that morning, the town had fallen into the hands of Al-Shabab.
Garacad is located about 260 kilometers to the east of Galkacayo city and is fairly close to Haradhere to its south, the latter being the town where Al-Shabab had been planning, mobilizing, and loading arms and ammunition on fishing vessels for months with the objective of carrying out a major terror operation against Puntland. Whereas Garacad is administered by Garowe, Haradhere comes under the authority of Villa Somalia’s proxy administrator who was parachuted into Galmudug late last summer.
Puntland and Galmudug had consequential military clashes about four months ago, after which time the Puntland authority accused Villa Somalia of using Galmudug as a proxy to destabilize its region.
Intelligence Questions
Reliable sources suggest that Al-Shabab mapped its route in such a way that they would first head for Garacad, to be followed by a quick advance to Suuj, a town located on a river bank, and Garmaal. Their next major target would have been to travel through a forbidding terrain onto the historic town of Eyl, only 80 kilometers from Garmaal to the north. If it could reach there, it would have been plausible for Al-Shabab fighters to make it safely to the Golis Mountain Range and Hul Anod where they could have joined a better established group led by Sheikh Mumin who has pledged loyalty to ISIS.
Such an unprecedented infiltration from the south by Al-Shabab into the otherwise peaceful region of Puntland raises several key strategic and security questions.
Was security and intelligence lax in Puntland in that Garowe should have anticipated the danger that could come from its southerly nemesis, the Galmudug region? It is recalled that in December, 2015, Puntland clashed with Galmudug resulting 70,000 people displaced and 21 deaths in the conflict, after which Puntland accused the FGS (Federal Government of Somalia) of destabilizing its region. This conflict precipitated that Puntland keep an eye on Galkayo as a possible point of entry for terrorist from the south.
Puntland’s spokesman, Abdullahi M. Jama (Quraan Jecel), claimed that his administration was aware all along about the movement of Al-Shabab militia in Haradher. If so, one would ask why his government did not take minimal tactical precautions in remote areas and place military garrisons in towns such as Garacad and similar settlements, to prevent any possible infiltration into Puntland. We knew their movement and we did nothing? That does not cut! Nonetheless, there is much to be admired about the professionalism of Puntland army.
There is also a widespread believe that Galmudug and Mogadishu authorities paid blind eye to the movements of Al-Shabab operation in Haradher (Galmudug)? If this is true, the FGS committed treason for two reasons:
(a) The FGS allowed a massive terror network to be organized and commissioned in Haradhere, Galmudug, without taking any action, but instead (at a minimum) passively watching while a terror mission was smoothly carried out.
(b) The FGS failed or refused to share key intelligence with the authorities of Puntland. According to the Minister of Information for the FGS, Mohamed Abdi Xayir, Villa Somalia knew well about Al-Shabab’s plans and its movements in and around Haradhere. He added that his military officers were well aware of the terrorists’ deliberate, brazen, and visible loading of weapons onto boats. Yet nothing was done! Did Mogadishu share intelligence with Garowe? According to military officers in Garowe, there was no information passed to them either by Galmudug or by Villa Somalia.
Moreover, for a good six months, NATO, in cooperation with AMISOM, has been mercilessly pounding Al-Shabab strongholds in the Southcentral regions with air raids. Intelligence reports leaked from the NISA files (NISA video # 1458268933) showed the heavy pounding of Al-Shabab militia by US drones. Although this has not yet been confirmed, the US bombardment has utilized a scorched-earth type of fire, killing scores of militia within one minute and twenty-nine seconds (the length of the video).
It was widely debated that Al-Shabab would try to seek refuge in Puntland to escape from NATO bombardment. Again, nothing was done to preempt the movement of Al-Shabab; rather Villa Somalia now stands accused of using the ejection of some Al-Shabab fighters from its Southcentral locations as a blessing in disguise for itself, but at the expense of peaceful regions.
No matter what the precise circumstances surrounding the invasion of Puntland by Al-Shabab militia were or will turn out to be, the March 2016 development represents both a challenge and an opportunity for Somalia to reimagine its military strategies in order to take the country back from terror groups.
Read more: Critical time for Puntland of Somalia
Faisal Roble
WardheerNews contributor
Email: faisalroble19@gmail.com
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Faisal Roble, a writer, political analyst and a former Editor-in-Chief of WardheerNews, is mainly interested in the Horn of Africa region. He is currently the Principal Planner for the City of Los Angeles in charge of Master Planning, Economic Development and Project Implementation Division.