Galkayo (AX) — Nearly 130 recruits and their military vehicles seized in Galkayo have been handed over by Puntland State to the Galmudug administration after officials from the two sides reached an agreement.
Officials from Puntland State and Galmudug held discussions on the security situation in the Mudug region, focusing on the personnel and vehicles detained by Puntland State. The talks ended with an agreement to return the recruits and their equipment to Galmudug.
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Galmudug said the group comprised young men recruited for the Somali National Army who were travelling to a military camp in the Galgaduud region when they mistakenly entered northern Galkayo, an area under Puntland State’s administration.
Reports said the Puntland State presidency instructed security agencies in Mudug to release the recruits and vehicles after negotiations between the two administrations were completed.
Galmudug Deputy Minister of Justice Mohamud Guure Guuleed said most of those detained were young men recruited from Galmudug and being transported to Xananbuure.
“There was no violation,” Guuleed said, explaining that the location where the incident took place is a route regularly used by vehicles and security forces from both administrations.
He said the detainees had not been formally enlisted as soldiers and were instead recruits preparing to join the government forces.
“We are brothers; we are neighbors,” Guuleed said, stressing the shared ties and security cooperation between Galmudug and Puntland State, two Somali administrations.
Puntland State and Galmudug continue to coordinate on security matters in the Mudug region despite tensions in other areas.
The recruits were reportedly stopped in two military convoys after crossing from Galmudug into northern Galkayo.
A Puntland State military official previously said the detained personnel were new recruits trained in Galgaduud and travelling to the Hananbuure base, a federal government facility in Galmudug.
The detention occurred amid continuing political tensions between Puntland State and Somalia’s federal government.
