Garowe, Somalia, September 5 - Senior police commanders in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, northern Somalia, resigned Tuesday citing unspecified job-related grievances.

In a letter dated September 2, three senior commanders based in the Puntland capital Garowe said they had officially resigned and asked the government to appoint replacements as soon as possible.

The names and positions of the three senior police officials named in the letter are as follows: Abdi Jama Elmi, Nugal region police commander; Mursal Abdullahi Farah, special police commander, Garowe division; and Adan Farah Bulay, commander of Garowe central police station.

The three officials declined to specify exactly what job-related objections had forced their resignation but observers pointed to lack of pay and equipment for the police as major possible explanations.

The resignations hit Garowe a week after the region's clan elders inked a deal that would effectively give police more power to stop crime without clan interventionism.

Many criminals in Puntland, and in other parts of Somalia, walk free after committing crimes because they gain support from their clan, a factor that makes them impervious to the law and annoys police officials.

Puntland President Adde Muse named a new police chief for the region earlier this month in a bid aimed at strengthening internal security.

Source: Garowe Online

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