Thursday September 5, 2024
FILE PHOTO
Mogadishu (HOL) — Ethiopia has deployed armored vehicles and hundreds of troops to its border with Somalia in recent days, following the delivery of Egyptian weapons to Somalia under a defense agreement.
Ethiopian officials have yet to comment on the troop movements despite sources confirming the deployment of forces from other parts of the country to the border area.
The tension in the Horn of Africa started after Ethiopia signed a preliminary deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease coastal land in exchange for possible recognition of its independence from Somalia, which Somalia views as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The controversial agreement has driven Somalia and Egypt closer, with Egypt fearing that Ethiopia’s continued filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile River will drastically reduce the water supply to Egypt and Sudan.
Recently, Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, stated that Ethiopian forces would not be included in the upcoming African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) replacing the ATMIS mission unless Ethiopia withdraws from a controversial memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Somaliland earlier this year.