Puntland–Somaliland dispute

The Puntland–Somaliland dispute is a territorial dispute over the northern Somali provinces of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) between the self-declared state of Somaliland and the Puntland region of Somalia.

The territory was historically part of British Somaliland, a British protectorate that declared independence in 1961 and then formed a union with neighboring Italian colony Trust Territory of Somaliland to form the Somali Republic (Somalia). When Somali Civil War broke out, a successor state of the British protectorate was formed in 1991 under the name Somaliland, declaring independence from Somalia.

The dispute started in 1998, when Puntland was formed as an autonomous state of Somalia and declared the region as part of its territory based on tribal affiliation of the locals.

Puntland claims Sool, Sanaag and Cayn (SSC) based on kinship ties with the regions' dominant Darod clans. Somaliland claims the territory as part of the original bounds of the former British Somaliland protectorate, which the self-declared country regards itself as the successor to. Fighting between the two forces led to casualties and captured prisoners, who were later exchanged.

Sanaag is a disputed region, claimed as sovereign territory by Puntland and Somaliland, two autonomous macro regions of Somalia.

The dispute with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) stems from the passage of the new Charter in November 2004. However, this was not a pragmatic issue until the military successes of the government in the 2006–2007 war in Somalia. Assertions of sovereignty in January 2007 by the TFG leadership sparked riots in Somaliland.

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