Somalia Officially Establishes Northeastern Federal State in Major Milestone

Somalia’s New “Northeastern” State Emerges From the Fault Lines

In a sun-baked Las Anod still bearing the scars of last year’s street battles, the Somali federal government says it has finished a job many thought impossible: bringing the disputed regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn into the federal fold as a new “Northeastern” state. It is an administrative milestone—and a political gambit—that reshapes Somalia’s internal map and tests the limits of its federal project.

What Changed Today

Mogadishu’s Interior Ministry announced the formal completion of state formation after a months-long process rooted in local consultations. Officials point to a clear sequence: a regional conference approved a temporary constitution on July 30, 2025; an 83-member parliament was selected on August 17; speakers were chosen on August 23; and, on August 30, lawmakers elected Abdiqadir Ahmed Aw-Ali, widely known as Firdhiye, as president and Abdirashid Yusuf Jibril as vice president.

An Interior Minister posted in Las Anod for 53 days—an unusual show of sustained federal presence—oversaw the process. The Ministry hailed the outcome as the product of “consultation, perseverance, and strong determination,” calling the new administration “a symbol of unity, solidarity, and the consolidation of Somalia’s federal system.”

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre promptly congratulated Firdhiye and Jibril. The two men, seen by many insiders as Mogadishu’s preferred pairing, won after rivals stood down and votes realigned in a compressed, high-stakes week.

Why It Matters

These lands—vast, pastoral, and threaded by trade corridors—sit at the heart of Somalia’s most sensitive territorial dispute with North Western State of Somalia, the self-declared republic in the northwest. For decades, Sool, Sanaag and Cayn have been more than dots on a map; they have been a proxy battleground for competing visions of statehood: North Western State of Somalia’s quest for recognized independence versus Somalia’s push for an inclusive federal union. The federal alignment of Las Anod’s local authorities is therefore not just administrative housekeeping. It is a statement of national intent.

The move lands amid broader recalibrations. Somalia completed its debt relief journey last year and has since sought to strengthen federal institutions—courts, revenue systems, and security coordination—long hobbled by fragmentation and conflict. Formalizing a Northeastern state creates a new center of governance in an area where administrative authority has been layered, disputed, and often violently contested. It also sets a legal foundation for service delivery and security partnerships that international donors have increasingly demanded.

The Long Road to Las Anod

Las Anod’s trajectory mirrors Somalia’s fractures and its stubborn resilience. In early 2023, fighting between North Western State of Somalia forces and local militias turned neighborhoods into front lines and sent families fleeing the hills. UN agencies estimated that more than 185,000 people were displaced at the height of the violence. Many sheltered in schools, mosques, and improvised camps, waiting to see which flag would fly above the city.

Out of that turmoil emerged SSC-Khaatumo, a locally rooted transitional administration that insisted its future lay within Somalia’s federal system. In tea houses off the main market, elders spoke of a simple calculus: stability first, politics second. Over the past year, their advocacy—and battlefield gains—shifted the local balance. The federal government’s decision to embed an Interior Minister in Las Anod for nearly two months signaled that it, too, was all-in.

Politics Under the Surface

Victories in Somalia rarely come uncontested. Critics say Mogadishu overreached, nudging the process toward loyalists. The selection of Jibril, a former Northeastern State parliament speaker and a celebrated poet close to Firdhiye, tightened perceptions that this was a carefully stage-managed handover rather than a purely organic local outcome.

Such skepticism matters. Somalia’s federal compact relies on the consent of regions that prize autonomy. The Northeastern state’s formation could ripple through Northeastern State—which shares social and political ties across these regions—and further strain relations with North Western State of Somalia. How Mogadishu accommodates local power brokers, shares revenue, and respects customary law will shape whether this state becomes a model or a cautionary tale.

Regional Reverberations

Across the Horn of Africa, governance is increasingly being brokered at the subnational level. Ethiopia’s federal experiment is again in flux, Sudan’s state structures have collapsed in war, and Kenya wrestles with devolved financing costs. In that context, Somalia’s quiet assertion of federalism—in a place where it has been hotly contested—will be watched closely by neighbors and donors.

There are also security calculations. Consolidated local governance can anchor efforts against Al-Shabaab, which thrives where authority is weakest. The integration of local police and community leaders into federal security planning could help stabilize trade routes that link Northeastern State’s ports to the Somali interior—corridors critical for livestock exports to Gulf markets, the economic lifeblood of many families in Sool, Sanaag and Cayn.

What Comes Next

The immediate tests are prosaic but telling. Will salaries reach newly appointed civil servants on time? Can the courts process land disputes without tipping into clan politics? Will displaced families find help to rebuild? Can regional leaders share power with the traditional elders whose word still settles many arguments under the acacia trees?

On the political calendar, the new leadership will need to finalize a permanent state constitution, clarify relations with the federal treasury, and codify security arrangements. That means setting out who commands which forces, on what legal basis, and with what oversight—a question that has undone more than one Somali handshake in the past.

International partners, who often speak the language of “locally led” governance, will have to decide how quickly to align funding streams. Quiet, dependable support for schools, clinics, and roads may do more to cement this state than any celebratory press statement. As one elder in Las Anod put it during earlier consultations, “We remember the government that fixes the well.”

A Moment of Opportunity—and Responsibility

Somalia’s leaders will frame this as a consolidation of the federal project, and they are not wrong. But federalism only endures when it feels fair and useful to citizens. The new Northeastern administration must manage expectations. It has been born from conflict; it will be tested by the slow grind of governance: collecting taxes without coercion, resolving clan grievances without favoritism, and delivering services without corruption.

The symbolism is enormous. A region battered by a year of shelling and displacement now has a state government that claims the legitimacy of both its elders and its capital. The responsibility is equally vast: to avoid triumphalism, extend a hand to rivals, and build institutions that outlast personalities.

Somalis know better than most that maps can be redrawn overnight, while trust is built one day at a time. The new Northeastern state has its first day. The days that follow will decide whether it becomes a cornerstone of the republic—or just another chapter in its long ledger of unfinished business.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.