Sunday August 31, 2025
FILE – Somali Disaster Management Agency (SODMA) Director-General Mahmoud Macallin addresses a press conference in Mogadishu. Moallim said Puntland blocked federal aid deliveries to areas retaken from ISIS in northeastern Somalia.
Mogadishu (HOL) — A growing feud between Somalia’s federal government and Puntland has blocked humanitarian aid to areas recently retaken from ISIS, raising concerns that political rivalries are undermining emergency relief efforts.
SODMA Director-General Mahmoud Moallim said Saturday that Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni rejected a request for the federal agency to evacuate wounded soldiers and deliver humanitarian assistance to civilians in Calmiskaad, a northeastern district where Puntland forces and their allies pushed back ISIS militants.
“I asked for permission to provide medical care for injured troops and to send humanitarian aid to those in need, but the request was rejected,” Moallim told reporters in Jalalaqsi, Hiiraan region. He blamed the decision on Puntland’s standoff with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre.
Puntland’s Minister of Relief and Disaster Management, Ubah Abdirashid Mohamed Hirsi, defended the move, accusing SODMA of distributing expired medicine and leftover COVID-19 equipment in past operations. She cited Moqokori district in Hiiraan, where residents battling al-Shabab had asked for wound treatments but received pandemic stockpiles instead.
“Puntland does not need face masks, expired COVID-19 kits or expired medicine like what you took to Hiiraan,” Ubah said.
FILE – Puntland Minister of Relief and Disaster Management Ubah Abdirashid Mohamed speaks from her office in Garowe. The minister has publicly criticized the federal disaster agency, accusing it of sending expired medicine and ineffective supplies in previous relief efforts.
Moallim compared Puntland’s rejection to al-Shabab’s blockade tactics, warning that state-level barriers risk denying civilians lifesaving assistance. “How can the federal government deliver urgent aid if some regions are shut off and state leaders themselves become obstacles?” he asked.
The dispute illustrates deep mistrust between Mogadishu and Garowe and comes at a critical moment in Somalia’s fight against ISIS and al-Shabab. Humanitarian experts warn that if aid delivery is subordinated to political rivalries, frontline communities could be left without essential care.
SODMA itself has faced accusations of corruption, mismanagement, and politicization of relief operations, fueling Puntland’s skepticism toward federal intervention.
