EDITORIAL: Puntland State Has Defeated an Immediate Threat — Its Next Task Is Building a Security Force Above Clan and Politics
Recent operations in Galkayo, Bosaso and elsewhere have given Puntland State an opportunity that extends well beyond the capture of military compounds.
The defining issue is no longer merely which authority controls those bases. Puntland State must now decide whether it can use this moment to create a security system that prevents armed formations outside a single, accountable chain of command from taking root again.
Puntland State has said the internal security threat arose from armed forces that were not directly answerable to its security institutions, including some it associated with Somalia’s Federal Government. The latest developments have underscored the risks created when military units operate under separate command structures, financial arrangements or political loyalties beyond the recognised institutions of the state.
Yet dismantling those forces or taking over their compounds will not, on its own, resolve the deeper problem.
One Force, One Command, One GovernmentPuntland should respond with security-sector reform that reaches far beyond the events of recent weeks.
Some forces may formally receive orders from the government while retaining recruitment patterns, organisational structures or internal loyalties rooted in particular clans or local communities. Such arrangements have long reflected Somalia’s political and security landscape, but they cannot serve as the permanent basis of a modern state.The answer is not to discard those soldiers. Puntland State should systematically absorb them into its formal security institutions.
Each soldier should possess an official rank, personnel file, dependable salary, standardised training and clearly defined legal duties. Every unit should function within a transparent chain of command that ultimately leads to one command-and-control system administered by the Puntland State government.
Puntland State should eliminate the idea of “so-and-so’s force,” a “clan force” or an armed unit associated with a politician or private individual.There should be one force: the Puntland State Security Forces.
The Security Forces Must Serve the State, Not the Government of the Day
Loyalty to the state is not the same as loyalty to the people temporarily holding office.
Puntland State’s security services should answer to the Constitution, the law and the institutions of government—not to an individual, political party or faction.Governments change. Presidents leave office, successors take over, and ministers and parliaments are replaced. Security institutions, by contrast, must endure as permanent organs of the state.
That principle also safeguards political opponents.A politician who challenges the Puntland State administration today should be confident that the police and security forces protect him as fully as they protect those who support the government.
Disagreement with the authorities must never, by itself, be treated as a security threat. Security institutions should act against unlawful conduct, violence and armed activity outside the law—not against legitimate political expression.When supporters and opponents alike view the security forces as protectors of their rights and safety, Puntland State gains one of the most important assets a security institution can have: public trust.
Clan Must Be Removed From the Chain of Command
Puntland State cannot—and should not try to—erase the social realities from which it developed. Traditional elders, local communities and customary institutions remain important to reconciliation and the settlement of disputes.
Military command, however, requires a firm boundary.
A traditional elder should not select a military commander. A politician should not control a unit personally loyal to him. A businessman should not fund an armed force that he can influence. Nor should a clan possess a government security unit whose primary loyalty returns to the clan when political tensions rise.A soldier may come from a clan. The security force itself must not belong to one.
Puntland State Needs a Unified Command and Operations Centre
The current situation has made clear the need for a central body capable of coordinating Puntland State’s security services.
Puntland State should create or reinforce a Unified Security Command and Operations Centre that brings together the defence forces, police, Darawish, intelligence services, maritime forces and other relevant institutions.
The centre should give the government a reliable operational picture: where units are deployed, who approved each deployment, what mission they are carrying out and which commander is responsible.
Puntland State should never again face a situation in which an armed force operates within its territory while the government lacks a clear account of who finances it, supplies its weapons or directs its actions.
Register Every Soldier and Account for Every Weapon
The next phase should include a comprehensive census of Puntland State’s security personnel and resources.
All government security personnel should be registered through modern biometric systems. State weapons should be recorded, while military vehicles, equipment and bases should be placed on a central government inventory.
Salary payments should be tied directly to each soldier’s official personnel record.
This approach would help prevent ghost soldiers, duplicate salary payments and the creation of armed units by individuals or groups whose personnel and resources are not fully visible to the Puntland State government.
Reform Must Not Become a Short-Term Campaign
Puntland State’s most serious mistake would be to treat the latest operations solely as a response to its dispute with Somalia’s Federal Government.
Even if the political disagreement with Mogadishu were resolved tomorrow, Puntland State would still need to rebuild and professionalise its security institutions.This is a state-building project.
Puntland State requires a multi-year programme covering training, salaries, ranks, promotions, retirement, discipline and command structures throughout its security services.
Every soldier should understand his professional future: how he can rise through the ranks, what rights apply if he is wounded in service and what support his family will receive if he dies defending the state.
A soldier without a secure professional future can easily become reliant on whoever offers money or patronage.
A soldier with a career, enforceable rights and a clear institutional identity is instead anchored to the state.Strong Institutions Are the Best Defence Against External Interference.
The developments in Galkayo and Bosaso have exposed a danger Somalia has repeatedly faced: when state institutions are weak, political disputes can rapidly spill into the security arena.
Military operations alone cannot provide lasting protection against that kind of interference.Puntland State must build a system that leaves little room for anyone to establish a parallel armed structure inside its territory.
When every soldier has a salary, rank, identification and clear chain of command; when every weapon is registered; when every military base falls under government authority; and when the security services are professionally trained and socially representative, it becomes much harder for any political actor—inside or outside Puntland State—to divide or manipulate them.
The Real Victory Still Lies AheadPuntland now has a chance to convert a security crisis into durable institutional reform.Success should not be judged simply by whether a compound is captured or an armed group dismantled.
The true measure will be whether no armed force operates in Puntland State outside the formal state structure; whether soldiers are known not by clan affiliation but by service number, rank and the flag they serve; and whether government supporters and opponents have equal confidence in the institutions charged with protecting them.The recent operations may have opened the way to that future.
Puntland State must now transform a short-term security gain into lasting state reform: one security force, one command and one chain of authority serving all of Puntland State—today and under every government that follows.
