Wednesday January 26, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - The leader of the Hiiraan Revolutionary Council, General Abukar Haji Warsame Hud, said in an interview with the BBC Somali Service in Mogadishu on Wednesday that the elite Turkish-trained Haram’ad and Gorgor special forces have been deployed in Beledweyne are undermining the peace talks that brought him to capital.
General Huud also said there was no need to send troops to Beledweyne, stressing that the “escalatory tactic” may descend into violence. Huud compared the situation to the intense fighting in Dhusamareb and Guriel in late October 2021.
"Beledweyne, as I see it now, will end up like what happened in Dhusamareb and Guriel, and the situation will get worse. They (federal government) will bear responsibility,” said General Hud.
Despite reports that talks between the rebel leader and President Farmajo have failed, Gen Huud said he would meet with Farmajo again on Wednesday.
General Huud added that he would never speak to the leaders of the Hirshabelle regional administration and that he did not recognize their legitimacy, adding that he would soon return to Beledweyne, the capital of the Hiiraan region.
The general's statement comes as military planes carrying Haram’ad and Gorgor landed at Ugas Khalif International Airport in Beledweyne on Wednesday morning, deploying at the Police Station and Lamagalaay Camp in Beledweyne.
Hundreds of troops from the Haram’ad paramilitary unit were this morning flown from Mogadishu to Beledweyne by Somalia’s federal government to reportedly bolster security ahead of the arrival of HirShabelle State President Ali Gudlawe, who has been thwarted from visiting Hirshabelle’s largest city since coming to office in November 2020.