2.6.3. Puntland - Checkpoints and road security

Checkpoints in Puntland are likely to be many more than those shown on Map 4, according to an interview with P. Schouten in March 2025.1221 For an overview on checkpoints at country level see section 1.7.

Puntland security forces intercepted an illegal arms and ammunition transport on the way to Bossaso city in May 2024;1222 they also confiscated five ‘suicide’ drones during a raid on a convoy on the road between Garowe and Gaalkacyo in August 2024, detaining seven individuals suspected of having links to Al-Shabaab or the ISS.1223 Police forces and suspected militiamen clashed at a checkpoint in Garowe in March 2025;1224 a bomb attack on a police checkpoint in Bossaso city a month earlier had reportedly failed.1225

In March 2025, an ambulance and another car transporting Puntland soldiers were targeted by an ISS roadside bomb, ‘causing casualties’.1226 In the context of the counteroffensive against the ISS in early 2025, Hiiraan Online cited regional authorities saying that ISS fighters from Al Miskaad mountains had regrouped in Togga Miraale valley near Bossaso city and mined access routes to the valley.1227

In the context of the dispute between Puntland president Deni and the political opposition, opposition forces reportedly blocked roads, stopped the transport of electoral material,1228 and seized a checkpoint in Garowe city ahead of his inauguration in January 2024.1229