Somaliland

Main article: Somalia

Since the unilateral declaration of independence in 1991, the country has sought international recognition and has been engaged in successful state construction.

And while the country is still missing from almost all official maps, to everyone's surprise Somaliland has become an island of stability and predictability.

In 2020, the traveler is met with routine customs inspections, passable roads and bans on plastic bags. Somaliland is distinguished from its closest neighbors only by the recognition of the traditional - clan - authorities that made up the upper house of parliament.

History

2023: City of Lasanod engages in standoff with authorities over residents' desire to unite with Somalia

By February 2023, protests have continued in the unrecognized state of Somaliland for more than three months in the southeastern city of Lasanod, whose residents demand unification with Somalia.

The dominant clan in Lasanoda is the Dulbahante - an ethnic group in conflict with the leadership of Somaliland and advocating independence from central power.

The reason for the conflict was the murder in December 2022 of Abdifatah Abdullahi Abdi, a well-known politician in the city, who criticized the Somaliland authorities.

The incident revived years of tension between Dhulbahante and the unrecognized state. Crowds of dissatisfied flooded the streets of the city, accusing law enforcement officers of lack of security and shouting pro-Somali slogans.

Attempts by local Somaliland fighters to suppress the unrest by force were unsuccessful. At the end of January, Garad Jama Ali, the head of the Dhulbahante clan, who was in 16 years of exile, returned to the city.

In early February, the elders who returned to the city issued a statement on secession from the unrecognized state. In response, the leadership of Somaliland sent troops to Lasanod.

On February 9, the city is under constant artillery and mortar fire. Rebels retaliate by attacking Somaliland's military bases. At least 75 civilians were killed in the four days of clashes alone.

The Somaliland Army has a low level of military training and poor equipment. At the same time, the fighters had experience in military operations only in open areas. Storming the city for them turned out to be an impossible task.

The clashes in Lasanoda did not find support from the local population in Somaliland, who opposed the war with their compatriots. The government did not have time to conduct an information campaign that could emotionally set up representatives of the armed forces and residents for military operations.

2018: Emirati DP World and Ethiopia invest in Berbera port development in Somaliland

Over time, the UAE's position towards Somaliland changed to favorable - Abu Dhabi became angry at Mogadishu's flirtation with Qatar and its refusal to join the diplomatic blockade. Somaliland soon persuaded DP World - the Emirati port operator - to invest in the Somaliland port of Berbera and turn it into a regional trade hub.

With the accession in 2018 of Ethiopia, interested in the "Berber corridor," DP World has 51% in the ownership structure of the port, Somaliland - 30% and Ethiopia - 19%. The UAE even wanted to place its naval base there - including for the development of logistics for the forces of the Saudi coalition in Yemen.

Somaliland's independence is the path to "normal" investment and credit, including the World Bank and the IMF. However, the authorities of Mogadishu, who quarreled with all their "federal states," stubbornly do not want to lose Berbera and its planned "free economic zone," through which Hargeisa exports livestock to the Gulf countries.

And although Somalia and Somaliland are cooperating more than feuding, they are unlikely to agree on independence issues, wrote the Zangaro Today channel. Despite the fact that Somaliland border guards give Somali citizens visas when entering the country, formal recognition will change a lot - including the "parade of sovereignty" represented by the less successful Puntland and Jubaland, also fed by the UAE in peak of the dysfunctional government of Mogadishu.

1999: Conflict with Djibouti and the Gulf

By 1999, Somaliland's relations with another Somali state, Djibouti, had soured. They turned away from Somaliland and the Gulf country - in the "united and indivisible Somalia" they saw then an effective counterweight to Ethiopia, which sought and seeks to undermine the economic power of Egypt.

Presidents Abdirahman Ahmed Ali and Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal

And Somaliland would hardly have taken place if the first head of the country - Abdirahman Ahmed Ali (Tuur) - had not taken the far-sighted step. He hired two experienced lawyers, Anthony J. Carroll and B. Rajagopal, who conducted the study and wrote an influential report published in the American University International Law Review in 1993 under the heading "The Case for the Independent Statehood of Somaliland." This little-remembered article was the reason why Somaliland had not yet been smashed by the bombers, the Zangaro Today channel wrote.

The next president - Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal - impressed everyone with the successes of state-building and flooded all international institutions with faxes and letters until the UN reluctantly lagged behind Somaliland. Egal then secured the opening of a representative office in Somaliland from Ethiopia. A neighbour finally saw Somaliland as a bulwark of stability amid the general chaos. By 2000, the legal framework of their relationship was also laid - a number of trade agreements that opened the way for Somaliland to direct agreements with a number of investors.

1991: SND comes to power

With the collapse of Siad Barre's military regime in 1991, the SND proved to be the only organization capable of establishing power over former British Somalia.

1981: Creation of the opposition SND movement in London

The history of Somaliland began in London, where a group of politicians from the northern clans (especially Isak) formed the opposition Somali National Movement in 1981.

1960: Somaliland's week-long independence and reunification with Italian Somalia into one country

In June 1960, Somaliland became an independent state, but less than a week later reunited with the former Italian Somalia into a single country.

1914: British Somalia

Map of Africa in 1914