The self declared republic of Somaliland is willing to send troops to war torn Somalia if the Africa Union recognizes it as sovereign country, honoury counsel of the breakaway Somali region to Kenya Mohamed Abdi said.

Mohamed said the recognition of Somaliland will enable the world to deal with actions of the Islamist extremism that has taken roots in southern Somalia.

Speaking to AfricaNews on the sidelines of a celebration to mark the recent successful elections in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi the counsel said Somaliland is willing to be part of the African mission in Somalia but will only do so if it recognized as a sovereign nation.

“As a Muslim country we are willing to join the African Mission in Somalia to drive the extremist group out of Mogadishu but this can happen only if the AU recognizes and incidence like the Kampala bombing can be avoided,” said Abdi Nur

He claimed the ring leaders of Al Shaabab hail from Somaliland which if integrated in to the African Union process, is able to persuade them to abandon the group. Al Shabaab claimed the responsibility of the twin blast that killed 74 people in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

“Somaliland is willing to send troops to southern Somalia to smash Al Shabab, if recognized for now we can’t be part of the solution to the anarchy in Somalia,” said Abdi Nur. “Before the Kampala bombing we also lost lives in similar attacks by Al Shabab and we can help in this since we have adequate intelligence to share with regional countries,”

He called on Kenya to recognize the breakaway region where more than 1200 Kenyans are now working, saying if recognized Somaliland will present Kenya with chance to fight Al Shabab and other Islamist groups that have threatened to attack Kenya.


“Kenyans and the people of Somaliland have a lot in common since they were all colonized by Britain, and this will open the doors for more opportunities to the citizens of both countries,” said Abdi Nur.

Somaliland declared it independence in 1991 and has remained relatively peaceful and calm to the rest of Somalia that descended in to anarchy following the ouster of long term dicatator, Mohamed Siad Barre. It recently held successful presidential elections where a sitting president conceded defeat Breakaway region of Somaliland, willing to send troops to Somalia.