SUMMARY
The Golis mountain area is located in the contested borderlands between Somaliland and Puntland.
In 2012 the Mujahideen in the Golis Mountains was created when Yassin Khalid ‘Uthman declared himself Amir of the group, pushing the former leader, Muhammad Said Atom, to the side.
During the first six months of 2010 as many as 50 Puntland officials were killed in different attacks. Differing claims were made as to who was behind this violence but the blame soon fell on local arms smuggler and militia leader Mohammed Sa’id Atom. The first clashes between Atom and Puntland State of Somalia can be traced back to 2006 and the Warsangeli. In 2010 the attacks against Puntland officials made the conflict escalate.
In July 2010 Atom declared a holy war against Puntland State of Somalia and Puntland responded with force. Supported by a shipment of arms from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Puntland forces went on the attack against Atom and his forces. Over the coming three months as many as 100 fighters of Muhammad Sa’id Atom may have been killed in battle with Puntland State of Somalia'sforces. In November the Puntland government declared victory and it is said that Atom, with the remains of his troops, fled into Somaliland.
Throughout the conflict there were continuous claims of the Puntland State of Somalia of a link between Muhammad Sa’id Atom and al-Shabaab. To what degree there is such a link has not been made clear but an al-Shabaab spokesman has declared that Atom’s forces are not a part of al-Shabaab.
In 2012 the links to al-Shabaab grew tighter as the group was taken over, and renamed by Yassin Khalid ‘Uthman, a man with close ties to al-Shabaab leader Godane. The group's new name is the Mujahideen in the Golis Mountains and they continue the fight against Puntland State of Somalia.
The non-state conflict between the Mujahideen in the Golis Mountains and the Puntland State of Somalia is first included in UCDP data in 2010. In August that year violent clashes flared up in the region, resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.
