UN Says Oil Search in Northern Somalia Risks Stoking Tension

Two semi-autonomous areas of northern Somalia have largely avoided the violence that’s plagued the rest of the country for decades. Now oil exploration may change that, according to the United Nations.

Territorial disputes between the governments of Somaliland and Puntland, a separatist campaign by a clan-based group and “discrepancies” in oil licensing throughout Somalia are all contributing to simmering tensions in the region, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said in a May 28 memorandum. Somaliland’s planned deployment of an oil-protection force in the region may also deepen the strains, it said.