Burco is full of Al Shabab supporters, some openly. It was the biggest hub for Al Itihad in the 90s and 2000s outside of Marehan and Ogaden areas. There was a training camp there. Burco is where Al Itihad top brass hid when they were under attack in Puntland and Isaaq K5 areas. They had a presence all over Somaliland in fact, as west as Awdal with a training camp there. The so called government at the time didnt care.
Al Shabab and their sympathizers are crawling all over K5 and Somaliland. They are sleeper agents. They are planning to take over when they capture the south.
I heard SL is a hub for shabab top leadership, in-fact I read somewhere SL pays them off also. Their is no question when under attack in PL mountains, they find refuge and at times assistance in SL. For example they do coordinated war fronts on PL with SL and Shabab being one alliance.