Somalia Inaugurates Military Facility in Las Anod, Somaliland Protests

Somalia's prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, inaugurated a Somali National Army facility in Las Anod on August 2, according to Somaliland Chronicle. The report described the event as the clearest attempt yet by Mogadishu to project federal authority into territory Somaliland claims as its own.

Hargeisa condemned the visit as a violation of its sovereignty. In a statement issued by Somaliland's Ministry of Information and National Guidance, the government called the move a "hurin colaadeed," a spark for conflict. Somaliland said it would pursue "all necessary legal and national measures" in response and urged the African Union, IGAD, and the UN to oppose the move.

Federal officials have not disclosed the size, purpose, or staffing of the August 2 facility. Whether it represents a newly established SNA garrison or the formal integration of existing SSC-Khatumo forces into the federal military remains unclear. No project value, contract value, contractor, consultant, or funder was stated in the report.

Somaliland Chronicle reported that Barre's visit was his third to Las Anod since April 2025. The earlier trips laid foundation stones for development projects and helped broker prisoner exchanges. The visit follows a wave of defections that has unsettled the administration Mogadishu helped establish in Las Anod.

On July 30, three days before Barre arrived, four MPs from the Northeastern State parliament resigned and were received in Hargeisa. The four publicly renounced "Somaliweyn" and re-pledged allegiance to Somaliland. Among them were figures who had backed the 2023 uprising against Somaliland. The report did not specify whether the resignations were directly linked to the facility.

The August 2 visit came seven months after Israel formally recognized Somaliland on December 27, 2025, a move Mogadishu has denounced as an attack on its sovereignty, according to Somaliland Chronicle. Somaliland lost control of Las Anod in early 2023 after months of fighting with clan militias that later aligned themselves with the SSC-Khatumo administration backed by Mogadishu.