The government of Ethiopia has appointed new head of security forces for the country’s Somali regional State.
The appointment comes after days after the incumbent, Abdi Adil Hassan was sacked as per the local media in the country.
Dr. Hussein Kassim, a former adviser to Somali state’s president, will replace Hassan.
The Somali region is the second-largest and has been bedeviled by conflict lasting two decades with the government fighting the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) that is seeking secession of the oil-rich region.
The Somali region is home to sizable natural gas reserves, is landlocked Ethiopia’s gateway to neighboring Somalia, .
Poly GCL has been engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas resources in the Ogaden basin since 2014. The company is in the process to develop the Calub and Hilala gas fields.
The company has discovered crude oil reserve in the Hilala locality and began test production last June. It has also discovered additional gas reserve in a locality called Dohar.
The Somali region is headed by Mustafa Muhumed Omer, a member of Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party has been heading the region since 2018 when former leader of the region, Abdi Mohammed Omar was ousted.
