Garowe (Somalia Today) — More than 500 fighters drawn from clans in Puntland’s Nugal region have begun training outside the coastal town of Eyl, local officials involved in the mobilisation told Somalia Today, as political pressure grows on President Said Abdullahi Deni’s administration.
The fighters do not answer to Puntland’s government, the officials said.
They said Puntland lawmakers and politicians opposed to Deni’s leadership were involved in organising the force, which they described as part of a wider campaign against the regional administration.
The mobilisation comes as political and clan tensions widen across Puntland, where anger over Garowe’s broken relations with Somalia’s federal government has sharpened into open opposition in parts of Nugal, Mudug and Bari.
Officials involved in the effort said the training near Eyl followed growing frustration over what they described as Deni’s decision to isolate Puntland from federal cooperation, donor-backed development projects and budget support.
Somalia Today could not independently verify claims that money and weapons had been promised to those involved in the mobilisation. Puntland authorities have not issued a formal public response to the reported training.
Clan pressure builds
The mobilisation follows several meetings in Bosaso by seven clans from Bari region, where elders and politicians discussed grievances against Deni’s administration.
People familiar with the meetings said forces loyal to the Puntland government tried to block one gathering, but the meeting eventually went ahead after days of pressure and political confrontation.
Opposition-aligned politicians from Puntland, including figures based in Mogadishu and others serving in federal institutions, have also travelled to Bosaso in recent days, local sources said.
Their presence has alarmed Puntland officials, who accuse federal-aligned politicians of using local grievances to weaken the regional administration.
Puntland Vice President Ilyas Osman Lugatoor warned those politicians not to become tools in what he called an attempt to destabilise Puntland.
“To Puntland politicians who used to be close to Hassan, we say: Hassan’s time is over, and do not be sent against Puntland,” Lugatoor said, referring to Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
His remarks captured the hardening tone between Garowe and Mogadishu. But they also showed the strain inside Puntland, where some opposition figures blame Deni’s confrontation with the federal government for worsening economic conditions.
Federal rift
Puntland’s standoff with Mogadishu escalated after Somalia’s parliament approved constitutional changes in March that could extend the federal president’s term by one year and delay planned elections.
President Mohamud’s government says the changes form part of Somalia’s move towards one-person, one-vote elections.
Opposition groups and Puntland leaders say the amendments lack national consensus and cannot extend the mandate of the current federal leadership.
In May, Puntland said it no longer recognised Mohamud as Somalia’s legitimate president, arguing that his four-year term ended on May 15. It said the mandate of federal parliament had ended a month earlier, on April 14.
The Puntland cabinet said it “recognises Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the former president” and that he no longer had the legitimacy to exercise presidential authority.
The federal government rejects that position and says the new constitutional framework sets the term of federal institutions at five years.
The dispute has pushed Somalia into one of its most serious political crises since the delayed 2021-2022 electoral process, raising concern that rival political camps could again turn institutional deadlock into armed confrontation.
Aid pressure
The crisis has also taken on a financial dimension.
Puntland has urged international partners and donors to deal directly with Garowe until a new political agreement restores legitimacy to federal institutions.
The demand strikes at the centre of Somalia’s aid and development system, where many donor-backed programmes, budget support arrangements and reform projects pass through federal channels before reaching member states.
Opposition figures in Puntland say the breakdown in relations has slowed development work, disrupted government activity and added to salary pressures in the region.
Deni’s allies reject that argument. They accuse Mogadishu of using donor money, security cooperation and federal institutions as political leverage against Puntland.
The African Union has said it is concerned that recent talks between the federal government and the Somali Future Council, which includes Puntland and Jubaland leaders, ended without consensus in Mogadishu.
It urged Somali leaders to return to dialogue through “genuine negotiation, mutual compromise, and strict adherence to constitutional order.”
IGAD, the East African regional bloc, has also called for continued talks, saying sustained political engagement remains essential to Somalia’s stability and state-building.
The reported training near Eyl suggests the crisis has moved beyond statements from Garowe and Mogadishu.
It is now spreading into clan politics, local security arrangements and armed networks that have long shaped power in Puntland.
Local officials involved in the mobilisation said more clans could join if the political dispute remains unresolved.
That prospect has raised concern that Puntland’s internal opposition to Deni could turn from political pressure into a more organised armed challenge, further complicating Somalia’s fragile federal order.
