Somalia is working towards restoring peace in its northern breakaway region of Somaliland, according to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The move comes amid rising tensions between the region’s authorities and local clan forces. Mohamud told Al Jazeera that unity was the only solution, but that it should not be achieved through violence. Fighting broke out last month around the town of Lascanood in Sool, killing at least 80 people and displacing more than 185,000, according to the UN. Leaders of the Sool, Sanaag and Cayn provinces of Somaliland had announced their intention to rejoin Somalia.
Mohamud also discussed the country’s fight against the al-Shabab armed group, a sweeping drought in the country and gender violence. In August last year, Mohamud declared an “all-out war” against al-Shabab, which has been waging a rebellion against the government since 2007. With support from the US army, African Union (AU) forces and local assistance, Somalia’s army was able to regain swaths of territory from the armed group since launching its offensive last year. In January this year, government-led forces recaptured the port town of Harardhere, an al-Shabab stronghold on the Indian Ocean, marking one of the most significant victories of the offensive.
The threat of famine in Somalia has been present since the country went through five consecutive failed rainy seasons. It now faces a sixth. In an assessment last December, the UN estimated that eight million people were badly food insecure and that more than 700,000 could suffer famine between April and June this year if aid supplies were not increased. However, in its latest report in late February, UN experts said that while food insecurity remains “extremely critical”, they were no longer projecting famine. Climate experts and humanitarian workers have warned that trends in recent weeks, including expectations of below-normal rainfall, are worse than those in 2011 when a quarter of a million people died in Somalia due to famine.
Mohamud also acknowledged the issue of gender violence by Somali forces. In 2021, two UN reports denounced what they described as an “alarming” 80 percent increase in sexual violence in Somalia compared with 2019, mostly carried out by al-Shabab fighters. But the reports also highlighted how sexual violence – for at least 15 percent of verified cases – was attributed to government security forces. “We built our judiciary system, we engaged our security forces and those who have committed such crimes are immediately taken to the court,” Mohamud said. However, he acknowledged that there were limitations to the justice system.