President Muse Bihi Abdi is adding political problems to the military reverses he has suffered in his ill-judged confrontation with the Dhulbahante clan over Las Anod...
Instead of staying out of the internal arguments of the Dhulbahante Muse Bihi launched a furious armed assault late last year following up with indiscriminate shelling and the repercussions are multiplying (AC Vol 64 No 4 Hargeisa's bloody own goal & Vol 64 No 6 Uneasy peace at Las Anod)...
Even worse from Muse Bihi's point of view they are now promoting the creation of a new Somali federal member state Khatumo-SSC (Sool Sanaag and Cayn)...
To add insult to injury the SSC militias defending Las Anod went over to the offensive on 25 August and overran Muse Bihi's military base at Gojade the launching point for his offensives seizing trucks artillery pieces and masses of ammunition in a major humiliation for Somaliland's leader...
Such extreme propaganda which is not supported by any evidence only has traction with the few Isaq including Muse Bihi who blame the Dhulbahante for supporting former dictator President Siad Barre's 1987-1989 scorched earth policy in Somaliland dubbed the 'Isaq genocide' when tens of thousands of civilians were murdered and Hargeisa and Burao all but razed to the ground...
Low key supportMuse Bihi's hardline stance has drawn in other parties...
But Muse Bihi's military problems have been feeding into his political woes...
This new timeline although endorsed by the Gurti the upper house of the Somaliland Parliament was a major bone of contention with the international community and Muse Bihi's opponents...
But events on the ground became too serious and Muse Bihi suddenly had to compromise as the military confrontation shifted from a fight with the Dhulbahante or Darod to struggle within the Isaq who are the backbone of the Somaliland independence idea (see Box Angry youth head for the hills)...
Consequently in late August Muse Bihi decided to reschedule the selection of the political parties to take place at the same time as the presidential elections in November 2024...
Angry youth head for the hills Although only a skirmish compared to the battle over Las Anod a revolt by young Habr Yunis fighters is occupying much more of the attention of Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi...
They blame not only the Habr Awal – the influential sub-clan of the Isaq to which Muse Bihi belongs – but also another Isaq sub-clan the Habr Je'lo with whom they have territorial disputes and increasingly political ones...
Muse Bihi sent a police unit to deal with the new band of rebels but it was ambushed with nine dead and 17 wounded...
What bothers Muse Bihi about all this is the crack in the façade of Isaq unity which has been the backbone of the Somaliland project for 30 years not the negligible military threat...
Muse Bihi's allies the Habr Ja'lo are clashing with Dhulbahante and Habr Yunis increasingly frequently...
In the wake of Muse Bihi's loss of the Gojade military base and this rebellion he needs Isaq to unite behind him...
He has embarked on a course of compromise to achieve this but the rebels in the hills say they won't consider altering their position until Muse Bihi is out of office...
