Hargeisa (PP Comment) — In April 2024, a book titled Duuliyihii Dadnimada (The Pilot of Humanity) was launched in Hargeisa. Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a Somali Air Force pilot, made a historic decision in 1988. Instead of bombing areas where SNM rebels were entrenched, he opted to land his fighter jet in Djibouti. This act of exemplary heroism has been appropriated as a symbol for secessionist agendas.
Somaliland forces used artillery to bombard Laascaanood for a period of six months, resulting in casualties, extensive destruction and displacement. Over 1000 civilians lost their lives due to the shelling by Somaliland. It is ironic that secessionists celebrate the heroism of a Somali pilot in a city that bore the brunt of bombardment in 1988, yet it is also the place where the decision to inflict immense suffering on the people of Laascaanood was made. Why is the inhumanity condemned by secessionists in Hargeisa considered commendable when the victims are the people of Laascaanood?
The Somaliland Administration rejected two appeals from the United Nations Security Council to halt the shelling of Laascaanood by Somaliland forces. The administration insisted on a two-state solution as a prerequisite for resolving the conflict. During a visit to the United States in 2022, President Muse Bihi Abdi expressed sympathy for Ukraine. “We feel the pain and the anguish the people of Ukraine are feeling to day because we went through the same only, our experience was hidden from the world” he said. Instrumentalising collective contemporary memories for political purposes turns history into emotion-driven reminiscences full of contradictions.
© Puntland Post, 2024
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