The Federal government has dispatched two airplanes with heavy weaponry to the semi autonomous state of Puntland to reinforce the local forces in the ongoing clash with Al-Shabaab militants who are alleged to be affiliated to ISIL.
Following a cabinet approval on Thursday, Information Minister Mohamad Abdi Hayir said the Federal Government provided one plane while the United Arab Emirates provided another. The deployment of military support to Puntland follows three days of clashes between Puntland forces and Al-Shabaab militants, who briefly seized the coastal town of Gara’ad on Tuesday before they were kicked out by Puntland troops.
Puntland indicated on Wednesday it had killed more than 20 Al-Shabaab fighters, who are believably associated with Islamic State of the Levant and Iraq, ISIL. The militants are said to have tried to head to Galgala mountains in Bari region, from where the ISIL de facto leader in Somalia, Abdulkadir Mumin, announced the group’s allegiance to ISIL, last year.
Meanwhile Puntland President Abdiwali Gaas has denied allegations by one of his Cabinet minister that the Federal government has secretly been sponsoring Al-Shabaab in its bid to coerce Puntland into backing the 4.5 electoral model adopted in January. Puntland security minister Abdi Hersi Ali on Tuesday claimed that the Federal government was intent on forcing them to accept the model by sponsoring Al-Shabaab to attack some parts of the state. Puntland does not fall within the province of AMISOM operation and has largely been dependent of local security forces to fight off the Al-Shabaab threat.