Puntland President Deni accuses foreign powers of exploiting anti-piracy operations to establish an unsanctioned military presence off the Somali coast and extract regional marine resources. Speaking before local leaders and community members in the port town of Garacad, President Said Abdullahi Deni asserted that external naval forces are using recent maritime security incidents as a convenient pretext to advance geopolitical and economic interests. He argued that foreign naval interventions historically coincided with the illegal depletion of Somali territorial waters, insisting that regional authorities will no longer accept external military deployments under the guise of maritime protection.
The regional leader emphasized that Puntland maintains full institutional capacity to defend its territorial waters and combat criminal activity independently, pointing to previous counterterrorism operations against militant groups as proof of local readiness. Deni warned that international operations risk harming innocent coastal populations and disrupting legitimate artisanal fishing networks. He called on residents, local mariners, and genuine international partners to support regional maritime security efforts directly, while explicitly cautioning foreign nations against utilizing regional security vulnerabilities to justify resource exploitation or compromise sovereign maritime borders.
The president’s sharp public remarks follow a notable surge in high-seas activity off the Horn of Africa, marked by six commercial vessel hijackings since April. Seismological and maritime security reports, including updates from the European Union Naval Force’s Operation Atalanta, indicate that pirate networks currently hold several merchant vessels and dozens of international seafarers captive off the northern coastline. Shipping operators navigating the Gulf of Aden and western Indian Ocean have heightened security protocols as incidents involving vessels like the Sward and Seamull underscore renewed maritime vulnerabilities across regional transit lanes.
Political observers note that President Deni’s statements also reflect underlying governance tensions between Garowe and the federal government in Mogadishu regarding defense jurisdiction, resource management, and external security partnerships. Puntland officials have previously accused federal institutions of failing to adequately secure coastal regions, thereby creating operational voids that enable maritime crime. By asserting strict local oversight over Garacad and adjacent coastal zones, Puntland aims to protect critical infrastructure investments, reassure international commercial shipping lines, and retain direct authority over its sovereign economic resources.
Black News 
