By HAN News Desk
GAROWE — Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland administration has firmly rejected any possibility of negotiating over the unity of the country, following Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland, officials said.
In its first official reaction to the development, Puntland said it would never accept any political process that compromises the unity of the Somali people or the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia.
Puntland’s Minister of Information, Mahmoud Aidid Dirir, made the remarks during an interview with Radio Daljir, emphasizing that no region of Somalia has the legal authority to unilaterally claim independence.
“There is no part of Somalia that has ever legally separated from the rest of the country,” Dirir said. “All regions were part of a single, unified Somali state, and that reality has not changed.”
He stressed that Puntland remains committed to preserving national unity and warned against actions that could undermine Somalia’s fragile political cohesion at a time of heightened internal and external pressures.
The statement comes amid growing political tensions across the country, as concerns mount over the potential impact of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland on Somalia’s sovereignty and regional stability.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has not been internationally recognized as a sovereign state, despite maintaining its own government and security structures.
Puntland’s position aligns with the broader stance of Somalia’s federal authorities, who have consistently rejected international recognition of Somaliland and reaffirmed Somalia’s unity as non-negotiable.
