Overlapping claims by Somaliland and Puntland: the case of Sool and Sanaag

The only viable long-term solution is to incorporate the views of local populations in Sool and Sanaag.

Over the past two years, tensions over competing claims to the Sool and Sanaag regions by the self-declared entity of Somaliland and the autonomous Puntland State of Somalia have escalated. Local, regional and national contestations, combined with a failure to make progress at each level, hinders resolution. This report assesses the situation in Sool and Sanaag, focusing on the dynamics driving recent developments and options for the future.

About the author

Omar S Mahmood is a Senior Researcher with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Addis Ababa. He has worked as a security consultant covering the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, a senior analyst for a Washington DC-based consultancy firm and a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso. He has an MA in security studies and conflict resolution from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, Boston.

Picture: Omar S Mahmood/ISS