By Mohamed Elmi, PhD

On April 24, 2025, well-armed clan militias, operating under the banner of the secessionist Somaliland administration, stormed the coastal waters of Laasqoray, Sanaag region, aboard high-speed boats.

The aggression against the Maakhir coast by Somaliland’s forces showcases a troubling escalation. This is not merely a dispute over territory; it is an orchestrated series of hostile actions aimed at destabilizing Maakhir.

 In December 2024, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that nearly 43,000 people were displaced in Erigavo town, Sanaag region due to an orchestrated armed violence by “Somaliland” forces and Isaq militias.[1] Over 60% of the displaced families were targeted due to their clan (as members of the Warsangeli Harti) and opposition to “Somaliland’s” unilateral secession (OCHA, 2024). The 2024 incident was instigated by General Nuh Tani of Somaliland, a perpetrator of war crimes in Las Anod. Gen. Nuh Tani visited Erigavo on October 15, 2023, and threatened the Harti community. 

The Maakhir coast, known for its lush northern slope of the Cal Madow Mountain, long coastline, and history of self-governance, now faces ever growing militarization and violent incursions that threaten the very fabric of its community.

In a brutal and coordinated assault, Somaliland’s clan militia hijacked several locally owned fishing vessels and abducted nearly 60 Somali fishermen, civilians whose only offense was earning an honest living at sea. The attackers deliberately veered off their expected maritime route, concealed their identities, and carried out their mission from the East with military precision, a premeditated act of aggression aimed at destabilizing the Haylaan and Sanaag regions of Somalia’s Maakhir State.

This brazen act is not an anomaly; it is the latest chapter in a disturbing pattern of hostility. It echoes an earlier provocation documented in 2011 by ECOP-Marine, when a British Royal Navy warship, reportedly carrying the commander of the so-called “Somaliland navy”, approached the very same shores of Laasqoray. The report documents how the British Royal Navy attracted a “serious military fire” upon coming close to the shore off Laasqoray. From that foreign vessel, amphibious and commando boats were launched. The incident was widely condemned as a flagrant violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, and “specifically of the Warsangeli territory”[2].

Once again, history seems to repeat itself, only this time with greater impunity and more direct violence. It is a campaign that weaponizes international aid to fund chaos, turning development dollars into bullets. Let us be clear: The abduction of non-combatant fishermen constitutes a gross violation of international humanitarian law. It is also a direct assault on Somalia’s territorial integrity and the vision of a unified federal state.

The Maakhir region, strategically vital and resilient through generations, must not be left to bear this assault alone. The Federal Government of Somalia (SFG) must act decisively to support the interim administration of Maakhir. Silence in the face of such organized violence is not neutrality; it is complicity. Donors must demand accountability and not allow their aid to be diverted into secessionist violence.

The people of Maakhir have long been committed to peace and security in northern Somalia. But no community, no matter how strong, can withstand relentless waves of aggression if the world chooses to look away. As in 2011 and the recent orchestrated Erigavo violence that uprooted hundreds of non-Isaq families, so today: this must be condemned, categorically and without delay.

By weaponizing international aid, the Somaliland administration has transformed the good intent of donors into instruments of oppression and turning lifelines into landmines. That aid package should have built schools, roads, and clinics is instead funding abductions and sowing discord. It is an egregious betrayal of humanitarian principles and a crime against the spirit of federalism and unity that Somalia strives to uphold.

This latest act of aggression is part of a broader, dangerous campaign to redraw defunct colonial borders through sporadic assaults and by force. To fail to hold “Somaliland” accountable is to abandon the very ideals of peace and self-determination that international law exists to protect.

Mohamed Elmi
Email: ahafinance@gmail.com 
Minneapolis, MN
————–

References:

1. ECOP-marine. (2011, July 11). British Royal Navy warship entangled in domestic affairs skirmish.
2. OCHA. (2024, December 18). SOMALIA: Armed Violence in Ceerigaabo town, Sanaag region. Retrieved from https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/somalia/somalia-armed-violence-ceerigaabo-town-sanaag-region-flash-update-no1-18-december-2024  
3. [1] OCHA. (2024, December 18). SOMALIA: Armed Violence in Ceerigaabo town, Sanaag region.
4. [2] ECOP-marine. (2011, July 11). British Royal Navy warship entangled in domestic affairs skirmish.