MOGADISHU (Kaab TV) – Two flights that were scheduled to bring advance delegations of officials from Puntland and Jubaland to Mogadishu today [Sunday 1 February] were turned back while still in the air, just as they were due to land at Mogadishu airport.
In separate press statements, the administrations of Puntland and Jubaland condemned the decision to turn back the flights that were en route to Mogadishu.
Puntland and Jubaland described today’s incident as “an act that endangered the security of the officials and accompanying officers aboard the two aircraft.”
Jubaland also stated that two additional flights carrying civilians from Kismayo were denied permission to land in Mogadishu and were forced to return to Kismayo.
Speaking about the incident, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni said that what happened today constitutes “a criminal act” that will be accounted for at the appropriate time.
Meanwhile, Minister of Defence Ahmed Macalin Fiqi accused the leadership of Puntland and Jubaland of attempting to bring large quantities of weapons and an excessive number of troops to Mogadishu airport.
The two regional states rejected the accusation in official statements, saying that the passengers on the turned-back flights included standard presidential security details and staff from the Puntland and Jubaland presidential offices.
Members of the international community expressed concern over the incident, particularly the European Union Ambassador and the United Nations office, who called on Somali parties to urgently resolve the dispute over the arrival of the Puntland and Jubaland delegations and to create an environment conducive to holding the electoral consultation conference.
Today, 1 February, had been scheduled as the date for the Somalia 2026 electoral process conference, which was planned to take place in Mogadishu.
In recent weeks, technical committees from the Federal Government of Somalia and the Somali Salvation Council had been working on preparations for the conference and its agenda.
Today’s incident is widely seen as a new obstacle to the planned meeting, amid growing uncertainty over whether sufficient trust can be rebuilt for Somalia’s rival political actors to come together for dialogue.