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Somali Presidential Palace

A significant security compromise in the Somali e-visa platform potentially disclosed private data belonging to many thousands of applicants, comprising American nationals, the US embassy in the Somali nation has alerted.

It said had received reliable information that "unknown cyber attackers" compromised the Somali government's e-visa platform, likely endangering information belonging to approximately 35,000 people.

The leaked documents circulating online contain names, photos, dates of birth, marital status, place of residence and electronic mail addresses, according to a US embassy statement released on last Thursday.

"This security incident continues to occur and could expose any sensitive details submitted to the system," the UK has also warned travellers.

"Evaluate the dangers when considering application for an e-visa mandatory for entry into Somalia."

Official Reaction

Government officials have remained silent about the security compromise. But the government has transferred visa application system from the previous platform evisa.gov.so to the new application website, without providing a formal statement.

"While American diplomatic mission in Somalia cannot verify whether an individual's data is included in the security incident, individuals who have applied for a Somali e-visa might be compromised," the American announcement said.

Territorial Consequences

Somalia's new system requires each person traveling, comprising individuals from the independently governed area of the northern territory and the partially independent area of Puntland, to request travel visas online.

Commentators state travellers have faced supplementary costs in certain regions, amounting to double charges.

Political Context

The northern territory, that announced sovereignty in three decades ago, governs itself with its own institutions yet hasn't received worldwide acceptance. Somalia maintains that this territory still constitutes its national domain.

The claimed security incident contributes to long-running tensions involving Mogadishu and Somaliland administration concerning jurisdiction of national air territory. Even though federal authorities regained total jurisdiction of territorial skies in the past decade, Somaliland regularly disputes the current system.

Recent Escalation

The conflict escalated further recently after Hargeisa's chief executive the regional leader stated the northern territory would reject Somalia's e-visa and directed that aviation companies are required to secure authorization from northern authorities prior to accessing their territorial skies.

Yet leading carriers have chosen not to board passengers lacking Mogadishu's electronic permit.

In the latest development, the northern region's top diplomat the diplomatic representative reaffirmed that "anyone travelling to the northern territory will obtain travel authorization at the point of entry", saying Mogadishu's digital application process was not safe and warning that "individual details can fall into the hands of extremist groups" because of using it.

Travel Disruptions

The stand-off has resulted in some travellers heading to Somaliland stranded at airports following refusal of entry because they didn't have the federal electronic visa.

Hargeisa's air transport representative, the aviation minister, has stated to news organizations that the instructions - first announced in recent months - became operational on the tenth of November.

Officials declared carriers that refuse might be directed to change course, and claimed several aircraft were previously redirected.

Aviation Authority Dispute

Recorded material released by the northern region's air transport department appears to show local air-traffic controllers providing guidance to global airline crews - an action hailed internally as a demonstration of northern self-governance.

However Mogadishu's air transport department maintains it retains complete jurisdictional power regarding the Mogadishu Flight Information Region (Flight Information Region), encompassing the whole nation's airspace. Officials have directed each flight to ignore any guidance coming from sources besides Mogadishu.

It warned that not adhering to federal and global flight regulations could generate safety risks and lead to "major judicial outcomes".