Somalia: Gen. Jimale Takar rejoins Puntland forces in major blow to Mogadishu

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Gen. Jimale Takar, commander of the Somali National Army’s 54th Division, has rejoined Puntland’s security forces and agreed that Danab units under his command at the Ligle military camp in Garowe will no longer report to Somalia’s federal government in Mogadishu, officials and clan leaders told Somaliguardian on Saturday.

The decision marks the latest – and potentially most consequential – in a series of setbacks for Mogadishu as Puntland moves to bring military and security forces operating within its territory under a single regional command.

Takar’s decision to rejoin Puntland forces followed talks with clan leaders and intellectuals from the Nugal region, who persuaded him to relinquish his federal position as commander of the 54th Division and rejoin Puntland forces, according to officials and clan leaders familiar with the talks.

Under the agreement, Puntland authorities will provide Takar and his forces with salaries and the support they require, while he will remain in command of the force

Puntland authorities also agreed that politicians from Garowe who opposed the current regional administration and belong to the same clan as Takar would not be put on trial, despite earlier threats by the authorities, the officials and clan leaders said.

Takar’s defection strikes at Mogadishu’s military foothold

Gen. Jimale and the Danab forces under his command had been receiving salaries from the federal government for more than a year and had been registered through the government’s biometric army-registration system.

His decision to abandon the federal command structure consequently represents a significant loss for Mogadishu, which has sought to establish a stronger foothold in Puntland and, ultimately, to weaken the influence of the region’s leadership and replace it with authorities more amenable to the federal government.

The development is particularly significant because Takar’s forces had occupied a position at the intersection of Puntland’s regional security structure and Mogadishu’s federal military architecture.

His return now gives Puntland another senior commander and contingent of troops that had been operating under federal authority.

Other federal-aligned troops also return to Puntland

Takar and his Danab forces are not the only federal-aligned troops to have shifted allegiance.

Other troops stationed in Kuur Ilaalo town in Rako Raho district of the Karkaar region have also rejoined Puntland security forces, officials said on Friday.

The troops had likewise been registered as federal government forces and had been reporting directly to Mogadishu.

Their return forms part of a broader Puntland campaign to dismantle parallel chains of military command inside the regional administration’s territory.

Puntland moves to consolidate one military command

Puntland authorities have been working to bring all forces operating inside the region under a unified command while removing units that report directly to Mogadishu or remain formally registered as part of Somalia’s federal security apparatus.

The Puntland administration says the campaign is necessary to prevent threats from Mogadishu aimed at undermining the region’s security and political authority.

The policy has already produced a series of confrontations and military realignments.

On August 5, Puntland forces seized the largest federal-aligned PSF (Puntland Security Force) base in Galkayo in a surprise dawn assault that began with mortar fire. The operation resulted in the seizure of weapons and the capture of dozens of soldiers, while some members of the force fled toward southern Galkayo.

The takeover followed weeks of escalating tensions surrounding federal-aligned security forces in Puntland. Independent reporting has confirmed that Puntland forces seized a federal-aligned military compound in Galkayo after heavy fighting on August 5.

In the days that followed, garrisons at several federal military bases in Bosaso and Armo also surrendered, according to the account provided by officials and clan leaders.

The developments are part of a wider Puntland effort to consolidate control over security institutions. Recent analysis has likewise described Puntland as moving to consolidate its control following the Galkayo confrontation.

Puntland warns against federal security presence

Puntland authorities say the forces taken over during the campaign will be rehabilitated, trained and equipped before being incorporated into a unified command under the Puntland government.

The administration has also said that forces registered as part of the Somali National Army or other federal government security agencies will not be allowed to maintain a presence in Puntland.

Those who attempt to continue operating under direct federal authority, Puntland authorities have warned, will face consequences similar to those imposed on the PSF in Galkayo.

The confrontation has already deepened the divide over whether federally registered forces can operate independently inside a federal member state. Mogadishu, for its part, has defended the federal military’s authority and the right of Somali citizens to serve in the national army. Somalia’s defence minister recently visited soldiers wounded in the August 5 Galkayo fighting and defended their integration into the Somali National Army.

A wider Mogadishu – Puntland power struggle

The latest military realignments come amid a longstanding political and security dispute between Puntland and Somalia’s federal government.

Relations have deteriorated sharply as Puntland authorities have increasingly resisted what they regard as attempts by Mogadishu to extend direct control over security institutions and political affairs in the region.

The latest confrontation also follows reports that Somalia’s federal leadership had been planning to oust Puntland’s leadership in a manner similar to the military operation that culminated in the removal of Southwest State President Abdiasis Laftagaren in March.

Against that backdrop, Takar’s return to Puntland carries significance well beyond the movement of a single military commander.

It removes a federally appointed commander from Mogadishu’s chain of command, brings his Danab forces back under Puntland authority and reinforces Garowe’s campaign to eliminate competing military command structures inside the region.

For Puntland, the move strengthens its effort to place the region’s armed forces under one command.

For Mogadishu, it represents another contraction of the federal government’s direct military reach in a region where it has long sought to establish a stronger foothold.

And for Somalia’s already strained federal system, the dispute over who controls soldiers, bases and chains of command in Puntland has become an increasingly consequential test of the balance of power between the federal government and its member states.

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