Somalia calls for “regional and international Partners” to “reinforce collective effort” in the region
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Toronto – In the latest string of accusations that seems to be motivated by stirring active conflict, the government in Mogadishu is alleging that Ethiopia made “unlawful arms shipment to Puntland.”
From the statement it made, the alleged shipment was via road transport from the Ethiopian border to Somalia. Hassan Sheikh Mohammed’s government is making another claim of “violation of Somalia’s sovereignty.”
The Press release dated on September 20 condemned Ethiopia for the “action.” It said “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Somalia Strongly Condemns the unauthorized shipment of arms and ammunition transported via Ethiopian territory to Somalia’s Puntland region. This action constitutes a grave infringement on Somali’s sovereignty and poses serious implications for national and regional security.”
While Somalia is making claims that it has confirmed “shipment” from “documented evidence,” it did not specify when or how the “evidence” was documented. The statement then went on to “demand” ” an immediate end to what it called “transgressions by Ethiopia.”
Furthermore, Somalia also included a message of what sounds like mobilization of its allies in the region and beyond. “We call upon our regional and international partners to denounce this violation and reinforce our collective efforts to uphold peace and stability in the region.”
In August 2024, Somalia signed a defense pact with Egypt and the government in Mogadishu has made arrangements for the deployment of about 10,000 Egyptian forces although the decision met with stiff resistance from different parts of Somalia. Somalia has also a defense agreement with Eritrea – which has already trained thousands of Somalian troops over the past few years and the training was in Eritrea.
At this writing, Egypt and Eritrea have not responded to Somalia’s call to “denounce” the “shipment of arms to Puntland,” which is not yet verified by other entities.
Ethiopia has not responded to Somalia’s allegation at this writing. During a weekly press briefing on Thursday, Ethiopia’s new spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nebiat Getachew, reiterated Ethiopia’s commitment for peace and stability and its foreign policy priorities on neighboring countries. However, he remarked that “Ethiopia will not passively observe any attempts to destabilise the region as well as to thwart its development efforts,” as cited in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs update.
The relation between Ethiopia and Somalia deteriorated after the former signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on January 1, 2024 and Somalia wants Ethiopia to revoke it. Ethiopia says it has a legitimate interest in securing a reliable access to the sea. Somaliland broke away from Somalia over 33 years ago but still lacks international recognition. The Ethiopian government has embassy level diplomatic relations with Somaliland.
Turkey, a country that is not believed to be neutral given its military interest and presence in Somalia, initiated talks between Somalia and Ethiopia but the two rounds of talks in Ankara were unsuccessful.
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This was not what this Somalia’s ministry of foreign affairs said. What it said was how Somalia’s mighty armed forces intercepted the shipment of arms to Puntland. As was verified by Türkiye, Al-Qahirah and Piccolo Rom the intercepted arms shipment from Ethiopia to Puntland included:
1) 265 updated versions of F16 fighter jets
2) 102 latest version of SU-45 fighter/bomber jets
3) 142 MI-45 gunboat helicopters
4) 619 long range air to surface and surface to surface missiles
5) 49 intercontinental ballistic missiles
6) 327 latest version of M1 Abrams tanks
7) 562 APC’s
8) 20 million RPG’s
9) 35 million AK-47 and M-16 fully automatic rifles.
I got the video and photos of the intercepted military weapons. I did not you tell the other similar interceptions heading to Galmudug and Jubaland. All these weapons were manufactured by Ethiopia inside Ethiopia under licenses from the original manufacturers. Hey Ethiopia! You are in deep creek now!!!