According to residents and eyewitness reports, the Red Sea Port City of Bosaso is coping with uneasy peace as two opposing Puntland forces are facing each other, each one monitoring the other as who would start shooting first. In the mix, are Bari clans and subclans getting ready for the next clashes by stockpiling arms and ammunition. Certain quarters of the Port City are no go at night. Regional authorities are worried and their security resources are no match with the arsenal of the confronting forces there. City commercial activities are greatly impacted and there is capital flight to Hargeisa and Mogadishu. Consumer confidence is at lowest level amid insecurity, worsened by high inflation on basic goods and energy.
Puntland Government shows no signs of urgency to seriously address and fundamentally resolve the impendimg security crisises in Bosaso and Galkayo. It looks that the recent Federal Elections had taken life and initiative out of current Puntland political leadership. The situation is worsened by confusion and news blackouts. Nobody knows what is happening in Puntland. Leadership is reportedly isolated. Titled traditional elders are either compromised, absent from the country or part of the insecurity in Bari and Mudugh.
Barring effective government intervention, Puntland stability enjoyed for a long time in the past could be in jeopardy.
