On February 25, 2025, journalist Ayanle Ige Duale, also known as Ayanle Ige Faroole, was arrested in Somaliland’s central city of Burao over a Facebook video that he shot of a local politician, according to the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ after his release.
Ayanle was working with two other journalists who were also arrested — Saed Ali Osman, also known as Xaalays, who posted the clip on his Facebook page, and Abdiasis Saleban Sulub, also known as Abdiasis Awl.
Ayanle, who is regional director of local Sahan TV, told CPJ that at least seven security officers — some in uniform and others in plainclothes — raided the outlet’s Burao office shortly after he returned from an assignment. The officers searched the premises and damaged equipment, including a computer monitor, he said. They asked Ayanle to identify himself, arrested him, and took him to Burao police station, leaving the office unsecured, the journalist said.
Police informed them that the Togdheer regional administration took issue with Saed’s video, in which he asked the Governor of Togdheer Region, Mohamud Ali Salebaan, also known as Ramaax, to clarify his stance on clan militias, which Somaliland authorities have at times described as local defense forces. The governor declined to respond and left the scene, appearing upset.
On February 27, 2025, authorities released the three journalists without charge, following intervention by clan elders and representatives of SOLJA.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally, except by Israel in December 2025.
CPJ did not receive responses to April 2026 emails to the police and Office of the Attorney General, requesting comment on several cases of journalists detained since January 2025, including Ayanle. Similar emails to the ministry of information and the presidency returned error messages, and calls to those offices were unanswered in early May 2026.