The suspension of the prime minister's authority to hire and fire government officials is the latest in a series of confrontations between President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble that will destabilize an already fragile political environment. Mohamed stripped Roble of these powers Sept. 16 following accusations that Roble violated the constitution when he attempted to replace the director of the National Intelligence Service Agency earlier this month. Conflict over the directorship of NISA took center stage Sept. 8, when Roble suspended then-Director Fahad Yasin over his handling of the June disappearance and killing of NISA operative Ikran Talhil Farah. Farah was reportedly preparing to expose a controversy over the training in Eritrea of Somali troops. Mohammed and Yasin attributed Farah's death to al Shabaab, but the Islamist militant group denied any involvement.