Somalia’s largest telecommunications provider has accused Kenyan forces of destroying a major mobile network facility in the country’s Lower Juba region, an incident the company says has cut off communications and financial services for tens of thousands of civilians.
Hormuud Telecom said Monday that its infrastructure in the village of Dhuyac-garoon was destroyed on Jan. 14, triggering widespread disruption to mobile connectivity and mobile money services that underpin daily life in the area. The company said the same facility had been targeted in a similar incident in 2019.
“We regret to inform our customers and the Somali community in general that Kenyan government forces have once again deliberately destroyed the company’s telecommunications equipment,” Hormuud said in a statement.
The company said the damage has left between 20,000 and 30,000 residents in Dhuyac-garoon and surrounding communities without access to telecommunications and financial services, dealing a severe blow to local livelihoods.
“Residents of Dhuyac-garoon and nearby areas have completely lost the telecommunications and financial services they relied on,” the statement said, adding that the outage comes at a time when communities are already struggling with drought and harsh living conditions.
Hormuud said preliminary information indicates the site was destroyed using landmines and alleged that the Kenyan forces involved crossed the border unlawfully and were not part of troops operating legally inside Somalia. Kenyan authorities have not publicly responded to the accusations.
Founded more than two decades ago, Hormuud is Somalia’s largest telecom operator and the country’s biggest private-sector employer. Headquartered in Mogadishu, the company says it serves more than 90 percent of Somalia’s population, with over 1.4 million active customers.
The allegation comes roughly two weeks after Kenya deployed additional Defence Forces personnel to Somalia as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, known as ATMIS. The multinational mission, launched in 2022 and comprising troops from several East African countries, supports Somali forces in efforts to combat militant groups and stabilize the country.
Hormuud said its services form the backbone of commerce, social connections and everyday life in many rural communities, warning that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure risk deepening humanitarian and economic hardship in already vulnerable regions.
Kenyans.co.ke
