Borkena
Toronto – A day after the administration in Mogadishu issued a statement alleging Ethiopian Forces have attacked three Somalia National Army (SNA) bases in Doolow, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAE) issued a statement in response to the situation.
“The allegation is not true,” said the statement. Ethiopia sees the incident rather as one that was perpetrated by what it called “elements” whose interest is “derailing the normalization of relations” between the two countries.
The MFAE statement said “Ethiopia is dismayed by the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Government of Somalia…”
For Ethiopia, the alleged attack whose extent of damage is not explicitly disclosed by the government in Mogadishu, the attack is the work of “third parties.”
“The incident is instigated by certain elements intent on derailing the normalization of relations between Ethiopia and Somalia. These third parties are intent on destabilizing the Horn of Africa and are perennial spoilers of peace in the region. They should not be allowed to frustrate the commitment of the two countries to peace as expressed in the Ankara Declaration,” the statement from MFAE stated.
However, there was no mention as to who the “third party” is that is working to “spoil” the relation between the two countries that is said to be on a path to normalization. The ministry did not disclose about the magnitude of the attack or the casualties related to the incident, nor any action in the direction of investigating the incident.
On the other hand, Somalia narrative is slightly different than that of Ethiopia. It does not seem to see the Doolow incident as the work of a third party. Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation released another statement on December 14 in which it highlighted the meeting in Addis Ababa between Ethiopia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mesganu Arega, and his Somalia counterpart, Ali Mohamed Omar. It partly reads “State Minister Ali conveyed Somalia’s protest and condemnation of the conduct of Ethiopian Forces in Doolow, Somalia.”
Furthermore, the latest Somalia statement unveiled that Ethiopia has committed itself to investigate the incident. “His counterpart [a reference to Mesganu Arega] expressed the Ethiopian government’s readiness to launch an immediate investigation and affirmed their willingness to work with the Federal government of Somalia to prevent similar incidents…” said the statement.
Ethiopia and Somalia signed the Ankara Declaration on December 11 this year to almost a year long hostility whose immediate cause was the Memorandum of Understanding the former signed with Somaliland, a de facto state in the North that parted ways from Somalia in 1991.
Somalia’s Minister Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi , was in Cairo, on Monday, where he met with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty. They discussed a range of bilateral issues including security in the Horn of Africa. In October 2024, Egypt, Eritrea and Somalia signed a tripartite agreement. And in August 2024, Egypt and Somalia signed a military pact. Egypt is poised to deploy 10,000 troops in Somalia as part of the African Union peacekeeping force and on a bilateral arrangement.
Read more on Somalia and Ethiopia recent developments here.
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When you read such stories you are obliged to ask a pertinent question. You would go like, ‘I know some one is not truthful but who is lying?’ I tell you what. Somebody is lying but why? Your guess is as good as mine. What a mukharub region!!!!
But we should always bear in mind is the fact that the two rivals for influence and vying for the hands of beautiful Somalia are on the overdrive to win it all. Those two are Egypt and Türkiye. When it seemed that Egypt had won the jackpot, then the Ankara agreement came about from nowhere. When that seemed to be going like a charm, then this shocking accusation of attacks by the Ethiopian soldiers dropped like a bazooka shell. Egypt will never want to see Ethiopia and Somalia at peace. Egypt will never want to see Ethiopia at peace with the country Egypt itself created, Eritrea. It will never want that because Ethiopia with its 130 million+ people is its worst nightmare.