By Asma Mohamud - Reporter
MOGADISHU — Senior Somali officials said they hope that next year’s July 1 Independence Day celebrations will be held in Hargeisa, Burao and Borama in Somaliland, underscoring the government’s position that the region remains part of Somalia.
Speaking to Dawan Media during this year’s July 1 celebrations at the Daljirka Dahsoon monument in Mogadishu, Banadir Regional Police Commander, Mahdi Omar Muumin, said the government hopes the annual national event can be marked in Somaliland next year.
“We pray that next year the celebrations marking the independence and union of northern and southern Somalia will be held in Hargeisa, Burao and Borama,” Muumin said.
He added that the government hopes the plan will become a reality “by whatever means it comes about.”
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Somalia’s Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi also reiterated the federal government’s position that Somaliland’s territories would eventually return under Mogadishu’s authority.
“Groups have been active there, but thanks to God, part of those regions have already returned to Somalia’s fold. The remaining people continue their struggle,” Fiqi said.
July 1 marks the 1960 union between the former British Somaliland Protectorate and the Trust Territory of Somalia, creating the Somali Republic.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 following the collapse of the central government. While it has operated with its own government, institutions and security forces for more than three decades, it has struggled to receive international recognition as a sovereign state.