Fighting for control of US-funded PSF erupts in Puntland

Several people are dead and dozens wounded in Tuesday's gunfight in Somalia's northeastern port city of Bossaso on the Gulf of Aden.

News Keydmedia Online
21 December 2021

BOSSASO, Somalia - A heavy fighting has on Tuesday morning erupted in Bossaso, a port city on the Gulf of Aden between two rival groups within Puntland state security forces, witnesses said.

The battle was reported near the PSF headquarters, with heavy gunfire and shelling was being heard as soldiers protecting sacked commanders fend off an attack from state troops.

The forces loyal to the renegade general have seized weapons and a truck mounted in an anti-aircraft machine gun from state troops who retreated to their base after encountering stiff resistance.

The conflict began after the situation has escalated for the past weeks as Mohamud Osman Diyano was defiant over dismissal and mobilized his own soldiers at PSF headquarters, according to the sources.

Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni fired PSF Commander Brigadier General Mohamud Osman Diyano on November 24th, a controversial move that splits within the state security forces in Bossaso.

There have been efforts spearheaded by local traditional elders in Puntland which failed to resolve the dispute over the control of PSF, a U.S.-funded counter-terrorism agency in northeastern Somalia.

It is not yet clear the casualties of today's fighting in Bossaso. The situation in the city is tense and the witnesses told the Keydmedia Somali service that the clashes forced many families to flee their houses.

KEYDMEDIA English