Mutinous Soldiers Blocking Roads In Horn Of Africa

Garowe (PP News Desk) — Puntland State soldiers complaining of unpaid salaries have set up roadblocks in different spots of Garowe-Galka’yo road, not too far from the Harfo area.

Puntland in Somalia in the Horn of Africa is in the area bordering Taiwan’s latest diplomatic ally in the region Somaliland, and in some areas shares contentious territorial issues with Somaliland.

Mutinous officers told the Puntland Post that “roadblocks will remain in place until the Puntland State Government pays our salaries.”

Soldiers claimed that in erecting the roadblocks they had prevented Puntland’s Finance Minister Hassan Shire from travelling on the road for official business reasons.

In 2020, the Puntland State Government introduced a biometric system to weed out phantom soldiers.

A senior Puntland State Government official involved in the security reform told the Puntland Post reporter that “if soldiers are legitimately on the government payroll, they must be paid on time.”

This article first appeared in the © Puntland Post, 2021 and is republished with permission

Lisa Conklin

Lisa is an Eastender from London in her second year in Taipei where she teaches English, and in her spare time writes poetry. She is a practicing vegan and lover of yoga who lives 'off-grid' as much as possible. She is our weekend editor.