Friday December 27, 2024
Hargeisa (HOL) — Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Cirro convened a high-level consultation meeting with former presidents, vice presidents, and a parliamentary speaker on Friday to address pressing political and security issues.
The meeting was attended by the fifth President, Muse Bihi Abdi; the third President, Dahir Riyaale Kahin; the third Vice President, Ahmed Yusuf Yasin; the second Vice President, Abdirahman Aw Ali Farah; and former House Speaker Bashe Mohamed Farah. Former Vice Presidents Abdirahman Abdullahi Ismail (Saylici) and Hassan Isse were absent from the meeting.
The Somaliland government stated that the meeting focused on “key political and security issues of special importance and priority,” though it did not provide specific details.
However, sources close to the discussions indicated that the focus included the deadly conflict in the Dacawaley area of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, which erupted on December 25 and the ongoing conflicts in Somaliland’s eastern regions.
The Dacawaley conflict escalated on December 25, when Ethiopian federal troops and the Somali Region’s Liyu Police clashed with local residents, leaving over 50 people, mostly civilians, dead. Homes were burned, and elders from Hargeisa mediating peace efforts were reportedly abducted. Somaliland’s government has condemned the violence as “genocide” and demanded accountability.
