Drums of War in Galkayo: How the Deni-PSF Rivalry Became Somalia's Newest Proxy Battlefield
- Gallaydh News Desk
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
GALKAYO (July 28, 2026): For nearly eight years, the divided city of Galkayo in central Somalia’s Mudug region stood as a rare symbol of communal reconciliation and cross-border security cooperation between the regional states of Puntland and Galmudug. Today, that hard-won stability is unraveling. Heavy deployments of Puntland state forces and military hardware are pouring into the city’s northern sector, transforming Galkayo into a fortified staging ground for what many fear could become Somalia’s next major armed confrontation.
This military buildup follows sweeping accusations from the administration of Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni, which charged the Federal Government of Somalia (Villa Somalia) in Mogadishu with actively fomenting civil war and coordinating troop movements inside Puntland via airports and overland routes across Galmudug. Yet the escalating crisis in Mudug is far more than an abrupt territorial border dispute. It represents the volatile convergence of a prolonged domestic power struggle between President Deni and the elite Puntland Security Force (PSF), an informal military alliance with federal commandos, and the rapidly deteriorating geopolitical relationship between Garoowe and Mogadishu.
The Three Pillars of Arms: Puntland's Fractured Security Architecture
To understand the mechanics of the current standoff in Galkayo, one must examine Puntland’s highly fragmented security apparatus. Rather than operating under a singular, unified chain of command, armed forces in the region are divided among distinct factions with divergent sources of patronage, operational autonomy, and political loyalties.
Military Formation | Command Authority | Primary Operational Mandate | Current Strategic Alignment |
Puntland Daraawiish (State Regulars) | Direct command from the Puntland Presidency and Defense Ministry in Garoowe | Territorial defense and enforcement of state executive authority | Pro-Deni Establishment (The primary instrument of state coercive power) |
Puntland Security Force (PSF) | Autonomous command under the Diyano family; historically trained and equipped by US Special Operations | Elite counter-terrorism operations against Al-Shabaab and ISIS in northern mountain ranges | Anti-Deni / Autonomous (Operating independently of Garoowe with tactical ties to Mogadishu) |
Danab Commandos (Jimcale Takar) | Tactical loyalty to General Jimcale Takar; salaries and logistics tied to the Federal Government in Mogadishu | Specialized federal commando operations and regional counter-insurgency | Aligned with PSF / Federal Block (Publicly opposing Deni's "authoritarian consolidation") |
Bosaso-to-Galkayo: The Feud Between Said Deni and the Diyano's
The origins of the current confrontation trace back to late 2021, when President Deni issued a controversial decree dismissing the longtime Director of the PSF, Mohamoud Osman Diyano. The PSF’s leadership rejected the dismissal, asserting its institutional autonomy. The deadlock culminated in urban warfare in the commercial port city of Bosaso in December 2021, leaving over 20 dead, displacing thousands, and causing massive infrastructure destruction before traditional elders brokered an uneasy ceasefire.
The rivalry shifted from urban combat to the political arena during the January 2024 Puntland presidential election. Asad Osman Abdullahi (Asad Diyano), a former PSF Director and prominent figure within the clan network commanding the force, mounted a formidable challenge against President Deni, ultimately losing by a narrow margin.
The political dynamics shifted dramatically when Somali Federal President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appointed Asad Diyano as Commissioner of the Somali Police Force. This appointment effectively institutionalized an alliance between Villa Somalia and the Diyano network, creating a military and political counterweight to Said Deni's authority.
The July 2026 Laag Ambush and Southern Relocation
In July 2026, the dormant Bosaso feud reignited following power struggles in the Laag locality on the outskirts of Bosaso. Puntland Daraawiish forces launched a targeted assault against a southbound convoy of PSF elements, seizing approximately eight combat vehicles.
Under mounting military pressure from state regulars in the north, significant contingents of the PSF abandoned their secondary base inside Galkayo and relocated across the territorial line into the Baraxley district of Galmudug, where they secured strategic sanctuary.
Intercepted Uniforms and Blockaded Bases: The July 2026 Escalation
The concentration of PSF forces in southern Galkayo immediately triggered alarm in Garoowe, where executive officials suspected that the city was being prepared as a launchpad for an offensive into Puntland territory.
On the night of July 27, 2026, Mudug regional police units in Puntland intercepted a heavy cargo transport on the outskirts of Galkayo carrying 250 complete sets of military uniforms. Regional police command reported that the shipment had crossed from Galmudug and was destined for federal-aligned and PSF militias massing along the border. In response, Galkayo’s municipal administration deployed heavy earth-moving equipment to construct dirt embankments, trenches, and physical barriers around former PSF bases to prevent any attempted re-entry.
Two days prior to the interception, on July 25, 2026, the Puntland government issued a strongly worded press declaration directed at Galmudug authorities and the international community. The statement explicitly accused Mogadishu of exploiting Galmudug’s airfields and roads to channel military logistics, weaponry, and hostile militias into the Mudug corridor to destabilize Puntland:
"The Government of Puntland declares that there is no military entity known as the PSF that legally constitutes part of Puntland's formal defense forces. Furthermore, there are no registered Federal Government forces authorized to operate within the territorial jurisdiction of Puntland."— Puntland Government Official Statement (July 25, 2026)
Federal Denials and Danab's Defiance
In response to the rapid mobilization of Puntland Daraawiish forces in north Galkayo, the commander of the Danab commando wing in Puntland, General Jimcale Takar, released an uncompromising statement supporting the PSF. The declaration accused Said Deni of "inciting civil war" for the fourth time during his tenure:
"No external enemy has invaded Puntland from the outside. The current crisis is rooted entirely in an internal political dispute among citizens of Puntland, centered on resistance to authoritarian rule and the monopolization of power by Said Deni's family circle." — Statement by Danab Command, Puntland Wing
Meanwhile, the Galmudug regional administration and the Federal Ministry of Defense in Mogadishu rejected Garoowe's accusations. Federal Defense Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, speaking from Galmudug, denied that any federal offensive or armed campaign was being directed against Puntland. He called upon Deni's administration to halt troop deployments that threaten the fragile peace in the Mudug region.
The Counter-Terrorism Vacuum: Extremists Watching?
Leading political figures opposing President Deni, including former Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, have raised serious alarms over the misuse of military resources. Sharmarke noted that Galkayo is not the Cal-Miskaad or Golis mountain ranges where counter-terrorism campaigns against militant groups are waged:
"The Puntland administration must refrain from launching aggressive assaults against fellow Puntland forces without constitutional justification. Diverting massive caches of weaponry toward a manufactured conflict in Galkayo will directly degrade our military readiness and financial capacity in the war against terrorism." — Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Former Prime Minister of Somalia
This concern underscores a perilous security reality. For years, both the regular Puntland forces and the elite PSF have served as the primary line of defense against Al-Shabaab and ISIS-Somalia strongholds in the eastern mountains of Bari. Redeploying elite units and heavy weapons to southern Puntland to fight internal political turf wars threatens to create a security vacuum in the north, offering militant extremists an opportunity to expand their operational reach.
The standoff in Galkayo is far more than a localized dispute between a regional government and a mutinous security unit. It represents the active proxy battleground of a larger constitutional and political struggle between Villa Somalia, which seeks to assert federal oversight across Somalia, and Said Abdullahi Deni, who is determined to maintain Puntland's operational and political autonomy.
By appointing Asad Diyano as Federal Police Commissioner, Mogadishu gained institutional and military leverage along Puntland’s borders. Conversely, President Deni has chosen to deploy overwhelming military force to signal that the central government will not be permitted to dictate Puntland's internal security arrangements.
Unless sustained mediation between Garoowe, Mogadishu, and autonomous commanders can defuse this brinkmanship, Galkayo’s celebrated reputation as the "City of Peace" risks collapsing into open warfare, cementing the Mudug corridor as Somalia’s most dangerous flashpoint.
