Thursday August 6, 2026
Bosaso(AX) — Puntland State authorities said Thursday they had secured full control of the Puntland State Security Force (PSF) headquarters in Bosaso, completing a takeover that began a day earlier with the capture of the force’s main base in Galkayo.
In a statement, the Puntland State Defense Forces said the headquarters and its command facilities were now fully controlled by the regional administration, adding that security at the site had been established.
The Puntland State administration said those occupying the facility were armed militias unlawfully operating under the former PSF structure while claiming to represent security forces.
The announcement followed Wednesday’s operation in Galkayo, where Puntland State troops seized the PSF headquarters after several hours of fighting. Authorities said the two operations were intended to dismantle armed groups they accused of endangering Puntland State’s security, stability and constitutional order.
“The Bosaso headquarters is now fully under government control, and its security has been assured,” the Puntland State Defense Forces said.
The takeover appears to bring an end to the PSF’s role in Puntland State following years of political and military friction between the force and the administration of President Said Abdullahi Deni.
Founded in the early 2000s, the PSF served as an intelligence-focused counterterrorism unit and played a major role in campaigns against al-Shabab and Islamic State militants in Puntland State’s Cal Madow and Cal Miskaad mountain ranges. Relations with the Puntland State government worsened after Deni assumed office in 2019, eventually leading to deadly clashes in Bosaso in 2021.
The two sides later reached an agreement aimed at settling the dispute, but several central provisions were never carried out. Puntland State has since insisted that the PSF is no longer part of the state’s official security institutions.
On Wednesday, President Deni instructed officers and troops aligned with Somalia’s federal government, and based at facilities inside Puntland State, to surrender their weapons immediately and transfer control of their bases to the regional administration.
Neither the PSF nor Somalia’s federal government had issued a public response to Puntland State’s latest announcement by Thursday.
