 |
Somalia’s prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, inaugurated a Somali National Army facility in Las Anod on August 2, the clearest attempt yet by Mogadishu to project federal authority into territory Somaliland claims as its own. Hargeisa condemned the visit as a violation of its sovereignty. In a statement issued by Somaliland’s Ministry of Information and National Guidance, the government called it a “hurin colaadeed,” a spark for conflict, and said it would pursue “all necessary legal and national measures” in response, urging the African Union, IGAD, and the UN to oppose the move.
It was Barre’s third visit to Las Anod since April 2025. The earlier trips laid foundation stones for development projects and helped broker prisoner exchanges. Federal officials have not disclosed the size, purpose, or staffing of the August 2 facility. Whether it represents a newly established SNA garrison or the formal integration of existing SSC-Khatumo forces into the federal military remains unclear.
Somaliland lost control of Las Anod in early 2023 after months of fighting with clan militias that later aligned themselves with the SSC-Khatumo administration backed by Mogadishu. The visit follows a wave of defections that has unsettled the administration Mogadishu helped establish in Las Anod. On July 30, three days before Barre arrived, four MPs from the Northeastern State parliament resigned and were received in Hargeisa, publicly renouncing “Somaliweyn” and re-pledging allegiance to Somaliland. Among them were figures who had backed the 2023 uprising against Somaliland. Barre’s visit comes as some of the politicians who once supported that uprising have begun publicly returning to Hargeisa.
The August 2 visit also comes seven months after Israel formally recognized Somaliland on December 27, 2025, a move Mogadishu has denounced as an attack on its sovereignty. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told an emergency joint session of parliament the following day that the recognition amounted to a “naked invasion,” and lawmakers passed a resolution declaring it null and void and warning that violators of Somalia’s sovereignty would face legal consequences. Mohamud has since called the move a threat to regional security, alleged Israel was seeking a military foothold near the Gulf of Aden, and claimed Somaliland agreed to host displaced Palestinians in exchange for recognition, a claim Hargeisa denies. Barre has separately accused President Irro’s inner circle of concealing contacts with Israel.
The inauguration also comes two days after Gen. Dagvin Anderson, the head of U.S. Africa Command, said in Mogadishu on July 31 that continued U.S. engagement in Somalia would become increasingly difficult to sustain. Anderson said the U.S. has “not turned its back” on Somalia, but acknowledged that voices “in Washington and other parts of the country” are asking when Somalia will take over its own security, and said sustained political dysfunction would make it “very hard for us to continue to stay engaged.” He contrasted that instability with battlefield setbacks, noting that territory the U.S.-trained Danab commando force had previously cleared in Lower Shabelle has fallen back under al-Shabaab control and is being retaken a second time.
That warning lands against a broader funding retreat. Washington told the African Union on July 1 that it will not continue funding AUSSOM’s UN-backed logistics support past December 31, citing Mogadishu’s failure to take ownership of its own security functions. The mission’s budget has already been cut by 25 percent, and UN officials have discussed closing the Mogadishu logistics office by year’s end, ending the AU’s role three years earlier than planned. Al-Shabaab has continued to hold ground in the south in the meantime, with checkpoints still ringing Mogadishu’s outskirts.
A day later, on August 1, Maj. Gen. Claude K. Tudor Jr., commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, met President Irro in Hargeisa to discuss Red Sea and Gulf of Aden security, with Irro’s office describing the talks as strategic and both sides voicing interest in deeper defense cooperation. The optics shouldn’t be overstated, though: Tudor’s stop in Hargeisa was one leg of a wider regional tour that also took him through Jubaland and Puntland, both of which are federal member states of Somalia, and the visit doesn’t amount to a change in U.S. policy toward Somaliland’s recognition.
The August 2 condemnation also marks a shift in tone for President Irro’s administration. During the 2023 conflict, Waddani leaders argued the uprising stemmed largely from domestic grievances rather than external interference. Since taking office, the Irro administration has increasingly characterized the conflict as fueled by proxy actors backed by Mogadishu, while continuing to prioritize dialogue and prisoner exchanges over any military response of its own.
The August 2 inauguration marks a shift from symbolic visits to institutional presence. Whether Mogadishu can sustain that presence, militarily, politically, and financially, remains an open question. U.S. officials say Danab units have been forced to recapture previously secured territory in Lower Shabelle, al-Shabaab remains active around Mogadishu, and international funding for the country’s security architecture is expected to decline sharply after December.