Khatumo State

The North Eastern State (Somali: Gobolka Waqooyi Bari ee Soomaaliya), previously known as Khatumo State (Somali: Maamul-goboleedka SSC-Khaatumo ee Soomaaliya) until July 2025, is a federal member state in northern Somalia with its capital in Las Anod. It includes parts of the Sool, Sanaag and Togdheer regions (combined under the acronym "SSC"). The name Khaatumo means a positive or final decision.

It was bordered to the west by the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, which claims the territory also claimed by SSC-Khaatumo. To the east, it borders Puntland, a fellow federal member, which does not recognize the existence of SSC-Khaatumo as it considers all Dhulbahante-inhabited areas to be an integral part of its territory. To the south, it borders Ethiopia's Somali Region.

Several months into the Las Anod conflict that erupted in early 2023, SSC-Khatumo forces effectively took over those regions, securing most of their claimed area and establishing a new front line about 170km from Las Anod between the villages of Oog and Guumays in western Sool.

SSC-Khaatumo was acknowledged as an interim administration by the Federal Government of Somalia on 19 October 2023, following its re-establishment on 6 February 2023, as SSC-Khaatumo after a period of mass civil unrest in Las Anod. On 30 July 2025, delegates meeting in the city of Las Anod officially announced the reconstitution of Khatumo as the North Eastern State of Somalia, "Waqooyi Bari".

The territory claimed by SSC-Khatumo has long been disputed between the self-declared Republic of Somaliland and the Puntland. From the 1990s through most of the 2000s, the Dhulbahante in the area were torn between supporting Somaliland, Puntland, or the formation of an independent entity. Several clan conferences were held during this period, but none succeeded in resolving the issue. According to Markus Virgil Hoehne, the idea of establishing an administration independent from both Somaliland and Puntland already existed as early as 2003, with many Dhulbahante interviewed by him in the disputed regions advocating for it, as aid organizations were prevented from working in the area by Somaliland and Puntland. Some proposed the name of "Dervishland", alluding to the Dervish movement.

The movement for a SSC (Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn) administration emerged in 2009 within the Somali diaspora, cumulating in a conference held in Nairobi in October. Participants included Ali Khalif Galaydh, former prime minister of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, Mohamed Abdi Hashi, former prime minister of Puntland, and various diaspora organizations. Here, the formation of SSC as a regional government of Somalia was declared, with Suleiman Haglotosiye "Xaglo Toosiye" and Cali Xasan "Saberi" elected as president and vice-president respectively. The terms were set for two and a half years. The ultimate goal was recognition as a federal member state and the establishment of partnerships with the international community.

The idea of SSC appealed to Dhulbahante in the borderlands, as well as several prominent clan leaders, including Garad Jama Garad Ali, Garad Jama Garad Ismail Duale, and Garad Mukhtar Garad Ali, the three of whom had backgrounds in the diaspora. Its capital was Las Anod, but as the city was controlled by Somaliland, Dharkayn Geenyo acted as the transitional capital. Another center of operations was Buuhoodle. To these irredentist SSC activists, Dhulbahante lands extended beyond current realities, encompassing territory lost to other clans in conflicts and demographic changes during the 1900s, stretching from east of Burao (Isaaq/Habar Jeclo) to north of Erigavo (Habar Jeclo and Habar Yoonis). In practice, SSC exercised control only over the area between Las Anod and Buuhoodle.

From its inception, the SSC was economically weak, despite diaspora support, and had to deal with a divided Dhulbahante. Although the government sought to represent all Dhulbahante clans, the majority of manpower, weaponry, and funding came from the Farah Garad, while other clans tended to favor Puntland. SSC officials operated without salaries, there was little visible administrative infrastructure in the areas it claimed, and it lacked a formal army, relying instead on poorly organized and under-equipped militias.