#puntland — Public Fediverse posts

Our full 2026 control map report for #Somalia is still a ways out, but subscribers can now see an April 15 version of the map:

https://www.polgeonow.com/2026/07/somalia-civil-war-map-2026.html

What do you want to know about territorial control in Somalia?

#HornOfAfrica #conflicttracking #conflictmapping #map #mapping #cartography #Somaliland #Khaatumo #Puntland #AlShabaab #AlQaeda #geopolitics #maps #Africa #geography #ISIS #ISIL #security #refugees #humanitarian #GulfOfAden @geography @geopolitics @cartography

Multi-phase strategy aimed at reshaping #Somalia's political & expanding central authority is fueling debate across #HornOfAfrica. The allegations raise questions about #Federalism, regional stability, foreign influence, #RedSeaSecurity & the future balance of power involving #Somaliland, #Puntland, #Jubaland, #Ethiopia, #Kenya, #Turkey, #Qatar & #Egypt. #Geopolitics #RegionalSecurity #EastAfrica

https://saxafimedia.com/strategic-plan-reshape-somalia-horn-underway/

After #Israel’s recognition of #Somaliland, @HassanSMohamud is moving to consolidate power in #Mogadishu—reshaping #Somalia’s FS as #Puntland & #Jubaland strengthen ties with regional powers & global actors hedge their bets ahead of the #2026Elections.

https://saxafimedia.com/somalia-tightens-grip-israel-recognizes-somaliland/

Notice the #Puntland soldiers wearing prominent #Somalia flag patches. Despite not recognizing the federal govt in Mogadishu, Puntland still considers itself proudly part of Somalia. Last year we debunked misconceptions that it had declared #independence: https://www.polgeonow.com/2025/06/puntland-independence-declaration-somalia.html

@geography @geopolitics @internationalrelations

In report's aerial shots, Sheebaab village is recognizable from satellite imagery, despite video's subtitles transcribing it incorrectly as "Sheebaad".

#geolocation #OSINT #Somalia #Puntland @geography @geopolitics @internationalrelations

Good video reporting from frontlines of still-ongoing #Puntland vs. #ISIS war in northern #Somalia by @bastien_rnl, @willswanson, and @ARTEfr for @France24_en. Seemingly shot last Nov - reporters visited ISIS-Somalia's former "so-called capital", Sheebaab village in Almiskat Mts.

https://www.france24.com/en/somalia-islamic-state-group-new-front-line-africa

#geography #geopolitics #HornOfAfrica #journalism #armedconflict #ISIL #war #GulfOfAden #security #worldnews #Africa @geography @geopolitics @internationalrelations

Reinforced unionist, anti-#Israel sentiment also lessens #Puntland ’s leverage against Mogadiscio, which partly explains leader/president Deni’s silence. This is also the case for #Jubaland. It might therefore weaken their opposition to a national compromise on the constitution and elections to be held in 2026.

#Somalia

- The way forward -
Meanwhile, #Puntland is caught between a rock and a hard place. A #UAE client state, it has long supported #SSC-Khatumo against #Somaliland, but its hopes of annexing the region have been thwarted by that region becoming the Northeast federal state.

#Somalia

including the control of major logistics hub — including Sokhna, Berbera (#Somaliland), Bosaso (#Puntland), Dar es Salaam & Maputo — and the building of a network of proxies, especially in North & East Africa — including in #Libya (#LNA), #Egypt, #Chad, #Sudan (#RSF), #SouthSudan, #Ethiopia, #Somalia (including #Puntland and #Jubaland) and Somaliland, and as well obviously as nearby #Yemen (#STC).

Both #US and #Israel have prospected a number of countries throughout 2025, most of which are African, with this very purpose. Those include, #Somalia, #Puntland and #Somaliland. All of them have either denied these reports or walked back their support, including Somaliland after Israel’s recognition. The US now seem to have rolled back that policy as well.

#Palestine #Gaza

#Somalia breaks with the #UAE

This is huge, but has been in the making for a while now. This is clearly linked to UAE's role in #Somaliland, #Puntland and #Jubaland, where DP World will continue its operations, and probably in part with #Israel 's recognition of Somaliland. (Although the UAE still officially support the One Somalia Policy)

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-suspends-port-defense-and-security-deals-with-uae

#Jubaland "secedes" from #Somalia

21 months after #Puntland, Jubaland follows the same path by acting as an independent state and ceasing to recognize federal institutions.

This comes after a protracted conflict with Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over the constitution, elections, and deployment of federal troops in the state.

Relations between Mogadishu and Southwest state likewise remain strained.

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/news/somalia/somalia-jubaland-rebrands-as-government-in-bold-challenge-to-mogadishu-based-fgs

Zwischen #Dürre, #Terror und #Hoffnung: In #Puntland, #Somalia, bauen Menschen ihre Zukunft mit viel Mut und Durchhaltevermögen selbst auf. Bettina Rühl hat drei Personen getroffen, die etwas gewagt haben – vom eigenen Unternehmen bis zum Restaurant: https://www.riffreporter.de/de/international/somalia-puntland-entwicklung-unternehmertum-migration

This article receives PolGeoNow's periodic tip of the hat for avoiding the news media standard of calling #Puntland state "semi-autonomous". Puntland as about as autonomous you can get, not even cooperating with #Somalia govt except when it feels like it.

#geography #defacto #defactostates #autonomy

@humanitarian @geography @geopolitics @politicalscience

Weltzeit: #Somalias Hilfskrise - #Puntland kämpft für Aufbau und gegen Terror
https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/somalias-hilfskrise-puntland-kaempft-fuer-aufbau-und-gegen-terror-100.html

And of course (for subscribers) a current edition of the #Somalia control map, showing situation in June 2025, months into #Puntland's Operation #Hilaac against #ISIS/#ISIL, and after #AlShabaab's massive resurgence in regions around #Mogadishu. More info: https://www.polgeonow.com/2025/06/june-2025-somalia-control-map-timeline.html

#HornOfAfrica #AlQaeda #security #humanitarian #OSINT #mapping #conflictzones #conflictracking #conflictmapping #maps #map

@geography @geopolitics

Last week we published a set of three in-depth #map reports covering territorial control across #Somalia's claimed territories from 2023 to present. The June 2024 report is free for all readers, and shows the height of "#IslamicState" (#ISIS/#ISIL) control in the country:

https://www.polgeonow.com/2025/06/somalia-territorial-control-map-2024-isis-shabaab.html

#HornOfAfrica #cartography #maps #geography #Somaliland #Puntland #SSC_Khaatumo #mapping @geography @cartography @geopolitics #AlShabaab #AlQaeda #security #OSINT

"In un angolo poco raccontato della #Somalia settentrionale, migliaia di famiglie sono state costrette a fuggire dalle loro case tra le montagne del #Puntland, travolte dal conflitto in corso tra le forze regionali e i miliziani #ISIS (noto localmente come #Daesh)."

#6giugno #armi #CeasefireNOW #Peace

https://diogenenotizie.com/puntland-40mila-famiglie-in-fuga-dalla-guerra-allisis/

How the small autonomous region of #Puntland found success in battling #IslamicState in #Somalia https://theconversation.com/how-the-small-autonomous-region-of-puntland-found-success-in-battling-islamic-state-in-somalia-251775

#Somalie: RSF condamne la violente interpellation arbitraire de 24h du journaliste freelance Dalmar Isseh Ahmed par les forces de sécurité du #Puntland, à la suite de la diff de son reportage sur la délivrance de cartes d’identité. Aucun journaliste ne doit être poursuivi pour avoir fait son travail

4. Almost all media fall in this trap, but: It's wrong to call #Puntland a "semiautonomous region". Puntland is *entirely* autonomous (self-governed/controlled), now not even cooperating with #Somalia federal govt. It says it's part of Somalia in principle, but that's about it.

#geography #defacto #geopolitics #MiddleEast #Africa #borders #politics
@washingtonpost #independence #autonomy @geography @geopolitics

3. @washingtonpost story says woman shooting 2 soldiers was "first time a female combat fighter from an Islamist group has been seen in Somalia".

This is only true if suicide bombers don't count. Though rare, women have acted as suicide bombers for #AlShabaab several times before.

#Somalia #Puntland #military #geopolitics #ISIS #ISIL #war #gender #MiddleEast #Africa
@geography @geopolitics

Several smaller criticisms of @washingtonpost report on #ISIS in #Somalia:

1. Describing #Puntland state in general as "remote" is dubious, since it lies on one of world's most important shipping channels (#GulfOfAden), including major port city (#Bosaso)

2. Miskad Mts are not on "the very tip" of the #HornOfAfrica, they are about 100 mi (150 km) southwest of it

(...)

#geography #geopolitics #Africa #MiddleEast
@geography @geopolitics

The title of the @washingtonpost story, "The Islamic State has regrouped in Somalia — and has global ambitions" is also strikingly off-base, since journalist Katharine Houreld is in fact reporting on the group's dramatic retreat in face of offensive by #Puntland state forces.

#Somalia #ISIS #ISIL #geography #HornOfAfrica #military #middleeast
@geography @geopolitics

Story in @washingtonpost calls itself "most complete account to date of how the Islamic State was able to regroup [in #Somalia] over the past decade". Yet all but the most recent of such info had already been covered several times over by reports from UN, Intl Crisis Group, etc

#geography #ISIS #ISIL #geopolitics #security #Puntland #IslamicState #HornOfAfrica #security #journalism #factcheck @geography @geopolitics @unitednations

🧵Investigative journalism in #Somalia is welcome, and @washingtonpost report from Feb made valuable contributions to story of #ISIS foreign recruitment in #Puntland state. But the story vastly exaggerates its own importance, among other issues...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/09/somalia-islamic-state-puntland-terrorism/

#geography #security #ISIL #HornOfAfrica #Africa #journalist #factcheck @geography @geopolitics #MiddleEast