HBM-SSC

HBM-SSC, also called SSC or HMB-SSC, was the name used by a Dhulbahante-led political movement that claimed to represent the SSC regions—Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn—in northern Somalia. The movement emerged in 2009 amid competing territorial claims by Somaliland and Puntland and sought to establish an autonomous administration linked directly to the Federal Republic of Somalia. Its name referred to the three regions associated with the Dhulbahante clan, whose communities had not uniformly accepted either Somaliland's claim to the former British Somaliland territory or Puntland's claim over much of the broader Darod-inhabited northeast. The organization was initially conceived as more than an armed group. Dhulbahante representatives from towns including Buuhoodle, Las Anod, and Taleh, together with members of the diaspora, discussed the creation of a regional authority. A Nairobi meeting in October 2009 formalized an organization whose Somali names are translated variously as the Unity and Salvation Authority, or Unity and Relief Agency, for the SSC regions of Somalia. Its stated objectives included ending Somaliland military control in the area, obtaining international recognition, and advancing local political and social interests. The proposed structure included a president, vice president, ministries, a 21-member parliament, and a role for traditional elders in mediation. Parliamentary representation was intended to be distributed among the principal Dhulbahante branches, with a requirement that at least one woman be included. Suleiman Haglotosiye, an entrepreneur and medical professional associated with Columbus, Ohio, became president, while Cali Xasan Saberi served as vice president. The movement claimed a much wider area than it effectively controlled. Its practical base was concentrated around parts of southern Sool, especially the zone between Las Anod and Buuhoodle, while Somaliland retained control of Las Anod and other important locations. The organization lacked a stable revenue base and struggled to provide administration or maintain a cohesive military structure. Its support was also uneven within the Dhulbahante community and was particularly associated with the Farah Garad branch and parts of the southwestern SSC area. Relations with Somaliland deteriorated into armed conflict in 2010 and 2011. Fighting occurred around Widhwidh, Kalabaydh, Hagoogane, and Kalshale, while arrests, displacement, disputes over local authority, and competing reconciliation initiatives further weakened the movement. HBM-SSC representatives also sought engagement with Somalia's Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu, prompting criticism from Puntland. At the same time, Somaliland attempted negotiations with local elders and offered measures involving prisoners, compensation, local administration, and security forces, although these arrangements did not produce a durable settlement. By 2011, the movement had become increasingly identified with a militia rather than a functioning autonomous government. Internal divisions, limited territorial control, alleged external sponsorship, and declining support made its original political project difficult to sustain. Dhulbahante intellectuals and local actors subsequently promoted a new organization, Khatumo State, which was formally advanced at a January 2012 meeting in Taleh. This effectively displaced HBM-SSC, although the exact date on which its activities ended is unclear. In June 2012, Haglotosiye met Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo in Dubai and agreed to disarm the militia and transfer weapons to the Somaliland government in exchange for public services. HBM-SSC is therefore regarded as defunct, with its political objectives and networks partly continued through later Khatumo initiatives.

The political background to HBM-SSC lay in the unresolved status of northern Somalia after the collapse of the Somali state. Dhulbahante communities lived across Sool, parts of Sanaag, and the area known as Cayn. Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, claimed the territory of the former British Somaliland protectorate. Puntland, established in 1998, also claimed much of the wider northeastern Somali area associated with Darod clans. The SSC districts consequently became a contested space, while many Dhulbahante residents opposed being governed by either administration and preferred a relationship with a future federal Somali state. During the first half of 2009, Dhulbahante leaders and community members from towns such as Buuhoodle, Las Anod, and Taleh discussed creating a regional authority directly connected to Somalia's federal institutions. Diaspora participation, including involvement from Nairobi, was important to the initiative. In October 2009, the movement was organized in Nairobi under a Somali name commonly translated as the Unity and Salvation Authority of the SSC Regions of Somalia. The initials SSC represented Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn. The organization was also known as HBM-SSC or HMB-SSC, and later sources frequently called it the SSC militia because its practical role increasingly became military. The original design combined political administration with traditional clan institutions. Suleiman Haglotosiye was selected as president and Cali Xasan Saberi as vice president. A 21-member parliament was envisaged, with equal representation from the Farah Garad, Mohamoud Garad, and Baho Nugaaled branches of the Dhulbahante. Traditional leaders were assigned responsibility for mediation, while the parliament was intended to approve budgets, review executive activity, and potentially remove the president. The movement proposed ministries covering foreign affairs, defense, interior, information, social affairs, and finance. Its official capital was Las Anod, although Somaliland's effective control of that city led the movement to use Dharkayn Geenyo as a provisional center. Buuhoodle was identified as a second capital. The movement's territorial claims exceeded its actual reach. Its effective area was largely concentrated between Las Anod and Buuhoodle, excluding Las Anod itself, with influence strongest in areas associated with Farah Garad communities. It lacked reliable income and could not consistently provide public services or sustain a unified security force. Although it claimed broad Dhulbahante support, participation was uneven and some traditional authorities did not join. These limitations made it vulnerable to pressure from Somaliland and Puntland and to internal disagreements. The first reported armed confrontation with Somaliland forces occurred in southern Widhwidh in May 2010. Fighting continued intermittently through July and reached Kalabaydh. Earlier that year, Somaliland had detained Dhulbahante elders meeting at Holhol, while Puntland separately sought declarations from elders affirming that SSC territory belonged to Puntland. Neither neighboring administration accepted HBM-SSC's autonomy project. In November 2010, HBM-SSC representatives visited Mogadishu and met Transitional Federal Government leaders, an encounter that Puntland criticized. Somaliland simultaneously pursued negotiations with local elders in Widhwidh and offered measures involving prisoners of war, compensation, local administration, and security arrangements, but the proposed understanding did not hold. A separate dispute at Kalshale in late 2010 intensified the conflict. A disagreement over a permanent water-storage facility and competing claims to local land developed into clan violence involving Habr Je'lo and Dhulbahante communities. Somaliland forces and religious figures attempted mediation, but local actors rejected proposed arbitration. Fighting continued into early 2011 around Hagoogane and Kalshale, causing deaths and displacing more than 3,000 people from Hagoogane. Reports also described allegations of abuses by Somaliland security personnel, including the reported beating and shooting-at of a 15-year-old girl in Las Anod. By mid-2011, HBM-SSC was increasingly fragmented. A ceasefire was signed by an HBM-SSC representative in Widhwidh on June 26, but an attack on a Somaliland base the following day and the movement leadership's declaration that armed resistance would continue illustrated the gap between local commanders and central authority. A United Nations Security Council report that year characterized the militia critically, alleging that it exploited genuine local grievances and diaspora sentiment for political and financial purposes. A later UNPO report described allegations of links to al-Shabaab. These were external characterizations and allegations, not evidence of a stable institutional structure or universally accepted policy of the movement. In September 2011, Dhulbahante intellectuals toured the region to consider an alternative political framework. A January 2012 meeting in Taleh endorsed the creation of Khatumo State, which effectively replaced HBM-SSC as the main organization pursuing Dhulbahante autonomy. The exact cessation date for HBM-SSC is uncertain; some accounts place the end of its activity in 2011, while the transition to Khatumo continued into 2012. On February 7, 2012, Somaliland forces launched an offensive against Buuhoodle amid continuing violence. In June, Haglotosiye met Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo in Dubai and agreed to disarm the militia and hand over weapons, with a commitment by Somaliland to provide public services. HBM-SSC thereafter ceased to function as an independent political-military organization.

• 2012

  Khatumo State supersedes HBM-SSC

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  The Taleh meeting that established Khatumo State effectively brought the HBM-SSC political project to an end.

• 2012

  Disarmament agreement with Somaliland

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  HBM-SSC president Suleiman Haglotosiye agreed in Dubai to disarm and transfer weapons to Somaliland in exchange for public services.

• 2011

  Fighting spreads to Kalshale and Hagoogane

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  Clan tensions and territorial disputes produced further clashes involving Dhulbahante communities, HBM-SSC forces, and Somaliland troops.

• 2010

  Armed conflict begins with Somaliland

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  The first reported clashes between SSC forces and Somaliland troops occurred in southern Widhwidh and continued intermittently into July.

• 2010

  HBM-SSC engages the Transitional Federal Government

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  A delegation visited Mogadishu and met senior Transitional Federal Government officials, reinforcing HBM-SSC's claim to a federal Somali political alignment.

• 2009

  Dhulbahante autonomy discussions begin

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  Community representatives and diaspora members discussed establishing a regional administration for Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn within a federal Somali framework.

• 2009

  HBM-SSC is formed in Nairobi

  [1]SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org

  The Unity and Salvation Authority of the SSC Regions of Somalia was organized in Nairobi, formalizing the movement's political and administrative project.

A regional unionist and autonomy movement seeking to place the Dhulbahante-inhabited SSC regions within a federal Somali framework, later functioning primarily as an armed militia opposing Somaliland control.

• 2011

  External allegations concerning militia conduct and affiliations

  A United Nations Security Council report criticized the SSC militia as exploiting local grievances and diaspora sentiment for political and financial purposes. A separate UNPO report described allegations of ties to al-Shabaab. The available reference material presents these as external allegations and assessments rather than adjudicated findings.

  Source

Read more

• 2011Resistance around Kalshale and Hagoogane

  Kalshale · Hagoogane

  HBM-SSC-linked forces joined local Dhulbahante resistance amid a dispute involving land, water infrastructure, clan boundaries, and Somaliland military intervention.

  Outcome. The confrontation produced casualties and displacement and further damaged prospects for a unified SSC administration.

  Source
• 2010Armed resistance to Somaliland control

  Widhwidh · Kalabaydh · Southern Sool

  SSC forces fought Somaliland troops in response to Somaliland's control and security operations in disputed Dhulbahante areas.

  Outcome. The fighting caused displacement and failed to establish lasting HBM-SSC control over the principal towns.

  Source
• 2009SSC autonomy and federal-unionist campaign

  Sool · Sanaag · Cayn · Dhulbahante diaspora

  HBM-SSC sought recognition of an autonomous SSC administration linked directly to the Federal Republic of Somalia and opposed the territorial claims of Somaliland and Puntland.

  Outcome. The movement did not obtain recognition and gradually shifted from a political administration into a militia organization.

  Source

• 2012

  Accept disarmament and weapons transferStrategy

  Background

  After internal fragmentation, prolonged fighting, and the emergence of Khatumo State, HBM-SSC no longer operated effectively as a unified autonomous administration.

  Action taken

  President Suleiman Haglotosiye agreed with Somaliland's president to disarm the militia and hand over its weapons, alongside a commitment by Somaliland to provide public services.

  Aftermath

  The agreement marked the practical end of HBM-SSC as an independent political-military movement.

  Source

• 2009

  Adopt a federal Somali autonomy modelStrategy

  Background

  The movement emerged in a region contested by Somaliland and Puntland, while many Dhulbahante communities sought an alternative to both administrations.

  Action taken

  HBM-SSC proposed a constituent regional state connected directly to the Federal Republic of Somalia.

  Aftermath

  The proposal was not recognized by Somaliland or Puntland and was difficult to implement because the movement lacked stable territory, revenue, and unified local support.

  • Somaliland — Opposed the autonomy claim and retained military and administrative control in disputed areas.
  • Puntland — Rejected HBM-SSC's separate claim and asserted that SSC territory belonged to Puntland.

  Source

1. 1SSC (militia)en.wikipedia.org