According to General Abdullahi Fadal Iman, Chief Commander of the Republic of Somaliland police forces, security forces were put on high alert against elements threatening peace, stability, and co-existence among different sectors of the society.
“The police forces will round up elements who have of late made a habit of inciting violence and unrest using various modes of communication foremost among which is the media,” General Fadal said.
“Regardless of what political shade one adhered to”, the General added, “or region or any other such consideration, security forces will not in the future hesitate to put criminal elements where they rightfully belonged”.
Colonel Faisal Heiss, the official spokesman of the Police Command, revealed that the police zeroed in and rounded up youth gangs and suspects on terrorism activities during recent patrols and operations.
These operations put some 200 ‘suspects’ and members of the marauding youth gangs behind bars awaiting further screening.
In many of the larger cities of Somaliland, youth gangs and ‘football’ clubs often clash against one another in the evenings some of which result in grievous bodily harm of various degrees. If not that, the disruption to peace and the damage these groups inflict on innocent passersby and vehicles are sufficient causes for alarm.
Another more sinister development to the Somaliland political campaigns, of recent, is the unabashed threats some so-called political parties adherents direct at opponents using television channels, print and social media. As Somaliland government structure is based on clan consensus, with the aim to supplant democracy in place of clan allegiances, the retrogressive tendencies the new development implies is, again, another sound justification to a security alert. If nothing else, it will slow down a palpable threat these caustic exchanges impose on the country’s fragile security within the larger volatile region of the Horn of Africa.
Neither of the officers disclosed why the nationwide alert was seen as highly imperative at this juncture of time, and on what grounds was it based.
The move is widely seen as a sound one as long as the police stay within its mandated authority and does not unjustifiably target specific groups or individuals.
