Army occupies Garowe Airport in protest over pay

By Staff Writer

Garowe, 05, November 2018. Puntland soldiers stationed in Tukaraq front base have taken over the control of the General Mohamed Abshir Airport at Garowe city, following the lack of payment of salaries for months. The rebellion incited by the absence of payments coincides with the World Bank’s 80 million dollars loan to Somalia.

Puntland is an autonomy of Somalia. Dispatch of money to autonomies has not yet started though.

The Puntland revolutionaries have also been in Tukaraq to halt Somaliland’s ‘expansionist’ policy, where Somaliland claims all it wants is to reach its legitimate colonial borders and operate within the international legal framework. Puntland revolutionaries believe they are defending themselves from aggressors, who are Somaliland in this case, and there seems as though there isn’t a solution in sight as the two are unlikely to reach a compromise.

Somaliland and Puntland have fought severally over the territory, but the partial withdrawal from Tukaraq by Puntland forces may prolong the unofficial ceasefire between the two.