Friday, March 29, 2024
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Somaliland Threatens to Shoot Down Commercial Airlines

By Ahmed Ibrahim, Ph.D

Somaliland’s leaders who have failed for over two decades to secede their clan enclave from Somalia have threatened to shoot down commercial airlines after the United Nations transferred control and management of Somalia’s airspace to the internationally recognized government of the Federal Republic of Somalia, according to multiple reports.

Faisal Ali Warabe, Chairman of UCID Party

According to regional security experts, the terroristic threats raise serious concerns about the security of commercial flights to and from Hargeisa.

UAE’s Fly Dubai and Air Arabia have code share agreements with Emirates with direct flights to the United States and Europe fly to and from Hargeisa. The risk to Ethiopian Airlines is also very high as the airline that operates direct flights to the United States, and Europe also flies to and from Hargeisa.

Faisal Ali Warabe, a Somali-born finish citizen, the chairman and the founder of the Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) and an ally of President Muse Bixi, is a grotesque politician, and a charlatan who has failed four attempts to win Somaliland’s presidential elections including the recent election threatened civil aviation over Somalia. In a recently posted YouTube video, many cheered as Faisal promised to purchase anti-aircraft missiles and down commercial airlines.

The United States and the European Union must not take lightly because of Somaliland’s history of supporting terrorist groups in Somalia and the region, as Faisal Ali Warabe threats echo the late Al-Qa’ida leader Usama Bin Ladin threats in the 1990s and 2000s, specially with thousands of Libyan shoulder fired missiles known as (MANPADS) missing and available on the black markets in Yemen.

Faisal has been on intelligence radars because of his close ties to Abdullahi Sudi Arale, an Al-Shabaab leader from Somaliland who was captured and transferred to GITMO in 2007. Arale was later released and sent back to Hargeisa. Faisal family allegedly hosted Arale’s family in Finland.

Faisal and many Somaliland leaders rarely condemn Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks against innocent civilian population and the federal government, using the attacks to dehumanize and delegitimize victims of Al-Shabaab terrorism in Somalia. These politicians also endorse Al-Shabaab attacks against the Somali National Army and the African Union Mission to Somalia.

Credible reports indicate that Somaliland provides financial and material support to Al-Shabaab in Somalia. The reports also suggest that Somaliland trains Al-Shabaab fighters and deploys them to south-central Somalia and Puntland, providing them access to weapons and ammunition as well as bomb making materials Somaliland illegally procured from the black markets in Yemen. Somaliland allows Al-Shabaab to use Maydh in Sanaag as an access and transit point between Yemen and Somalia was Al-Shabaab and ISIS smuggle weapons and fighters from Yemen to Somalia.

Although Somaliland did not directly carryout the 2016 Daallo Airlines failed bombing, elements of the regional government provided safe haven to Ismail Muse, a Senior Al-Shabaab leader from Borama region of Somaliland, were he planned, coordinated and executed several attacks in Mogadishu, including the Maka Al Mukarama and Central Hotels attacks that killed more than 100 civilians as well as the failed bombing of Daallo Airlines that initially was targeting Turkish Airlines.

The Daallo Airlines attack only killed the attacker Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh, a 55-year-old suicide bomber from Hargeisa who used a laptop bomb. The attack was targeting Turkish Airlines, but the carrier cancelled its flight to Mogadishu at the time, according to reports.

According to aviation security experts warn that Somaliland support of terrorism and threats to civil aviation raises serious concerns about the security of flights to and from Hargeisa, especially after the ISIS terrorist attack on Russian Metrojet flight from Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to Saint Petersburg, Russia in October 2015.

Somaliland Leaders Endorse Al-Shabaab Attacks in Somalia

Faisal Ali Warabe as well as many Somaliland leaders had publically endorsed Al-Shabaab attacks in Somalia. These attacks including the devastating 14 October attack that killed hundreds of innocent civilians and damaged public and private properties were privately celebrated in Hargeisa.

The transformation of Faisal Ali Warabe is finally complete. He has transformed from a source, reporting on Somali National Movement (SNM) to an extremist-terrorist sympathizer with ties to Al-Shabaab calling for more attacks, and the destruction of aircrafts and the killing of innocent civilians.

Somaliland and Faisal Ali Warabe’s words fit the definition of global terrorists and they represent a direct threat to Somali and regional security as well as threat to global civil aviation. Therefore, Faisal and these Somaliland criminals must be sanctioned by adding to the United Nations sanctioned list and United States government’s Special Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and Specially Designated Global Terrorist for their support of unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against Somali civilians, in the pursuit of Somaliland political aims.

The Federal Government of Somalia has an opportunity to show that its serious about going after individuals or groups that threaten security and stability of all Somalia, including Somaliland. The internationally recognized government has the moral duty, responsibility and authority to take action against Somaliland and Faisal Ali Warabe, and they must finally exercise courage, sending clear message to these cabals in Hargeisa that they will be held accountable. The federal government must also take strong steps to make sure that these terrorists do not threaten Somalia and Somali citizens again. The government must take the following steps:

  1. The Attorney General of Somalia must file a terrorist charges case against Faisal Ali Warabe on his recent civil aviation threats and any other Somaliland leaders that endorse Al-Shabaab or ISIS attacks.
  2. The federal government should ban travel of all International Organizations and foreign missions to Hargeisa without the federal government approval. No more UN or foreign flights without approval.  These flights must first receive permission before they travel to Hargeisa or any other area in Northern Somalia.
  3. The federal government must demand the United Nation’s Somalia – Eritrea Monitoring Group (SEMG) mandated by the United Nations Security Council to investigate Somaliland leaders, militias and especially Faisal Ali Warabe ties and support to Al-Shabaab and ISIS.
  4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must inform Finland, and the United Arab Emirates about Faisal’s terrorist threats and threat civil aviation.
  5. The Ministry of Transport must establish a No-Fly list consisting of individuals and groups that threaten civil aviation and/or support terrorist groups in Somalia. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority must require airlines to provide the flight manifesto before each flight leaves to or from Hargeisa. The federal government now controls Somalia’s airspace and can dictate to all airlines to follow new rules fly on their flights to and from Hargeisa.

Conclusion

The time has come for the Somali federal government to end Somaliland shenanigans. The Somali people have suffered a lot and tolerated Somaliland falsehoods, revisionist history, utter madness, crocodile tears, and disloyalty as well as treasonous acts for far too long.

The federal government must take action against Somaliland and Faisal Ali Warabe and use legal tools first and security services to go after individuals that threaten peace and stability of Somalia. The federal government must demand the International Community and foreign missions to Somalia to also take actions against Somaliland because of regions continuous support to Al-Shabaab and ISIS.

Ahmed Ibrahim, Ph.D
Email:[email protected]

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Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim is a former senior United Nations official who served in Africa, the Middle East and the United Nations in New York. Dr. Ibrahim is a security and development consultant as well as freelance writer based in Nairobi, Kenya.


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