Of Somali troops in Tigray conflict: PM Roble's deafening silence

MOGADISHU, Somalia - In one of the most empathetic interview, a tearful mother tells reporters in Mogadishu that "I don't know anyone in opposition or government, I am just a vegetable vendor" in reference to a missing son, believed to be training in Eritrea, yet nothing forthcoming seems to emanate from government.

For umpteenth times, a number of parents to soldiers training in Eritrea have flocked streets of Mogadishu, demanding to know the whereabouts of their sons, some who are now presumed dead should the reports from the Tigray region get confirmed.

But in Somalia, one gets confused when information is not flowing from the right channels, in this case, de facto leaders of the government, who is the Prime Minister of the country. This has triggered a state of confusion and panic among parents whose children have been missing for months.

It's the report published by the UN Special Rapporteur to Eritrea that even appears shocking, confirming worst fears that indeed, Somali troops crossed over to Ethiopia from Eritrea and even fought in Tigray. The rapporteur did not give further details on the report.

Preliminary investigations by Garowe Online also did confirm that over 5,000 soldiers are training in Eritrea, and had left in three batches in 2019 for Asmara. Farmajo and NISA boss Fahad Yasin were the main organizers of the clandestine training, sources had confirmed.

Yet, efforts to seek redress on the matter from authorities in Somalia remain a tough nut to crack, with the parents spending most of their days knocking various government offices without tangible answers. Their only concern is; "where are our children?".

The person mandated to give an accurate response is Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, the chief coordinator of government programs. Recently, he got almost absolute powers after Farmajo opted to donate his functions, due to persistent pressure from the opposition.

So, where is Roble?

Ever since the report on alleged participation of Somali soldiers in the Tigray war leaked, Roble has remained fairly silent on the matter, with most of his official Twitter handles only addressing matters elections or at times, diplomatic meetings.

In fact, it's the information minister Osman Abukar Dubbe who has come out guns blazing about the report, begging questions whether Somalia has an office of the Prime Minister, that of Defense ministry, or even Foreign Affairs, which are directly linked to soldiers training overseas.

While issuing a statement, Dubbe seemed to accuse parents demanding to know the whereabouts of their children as "sympathizers" of the opposition and even went ahead to term the report "cooked and unreal". According to him, no Somali soldier fought in Tigray, no one was captured in Tigray".

"In many countries, politicians avoid discussing bilateral Defense and Security matters or issues touching on forces because it is deemed a Supreme national secret," he said. "Unfortunately, our Somali politicians have made the politicization of our forces a hobby which is dangerous."

Melancholically, Roble remains mum on the matter and has never bothered to speak on the matter or even brief parliament. But generally, the government admits that there are indeed soldiers training in Afwerki's land despite refuting initially after reports emerged in February.

On Tuesday, Roble visited soldiers injured at Gen. Abdikarim Yusuf's army training base in Mogadishu, where 20 soldiers died. Al-Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility in the proxy media outlets, adding that "we managed to kill 40 recruits".

But despite visiting soldiers, Roble did not take time to even give the slightest hint on the missing soldiers, with stakeholders now left guessing or at worst, depending on foreign reports. He did not even give a hint that some soldiers are training in Eritrea.

Late last year, the Ethiopian government launched an offensive in Tigray, and forces from neighboring Eritrea soon became involved in support. The report indicates that Somali forces that had been sent to Eritrea to train were also pulled into the fight.

Parliamentary initiatives

In the report by the special rapporteur, the efforts of Somali parliamentarians cannot go unnoticed. The rapporteur confesses that some MPs sitting in Defense and Foreign Relations committee had asked Farmajo to form a task force to investigate claims that Somali soldiers fought in Eritrea.

Shockingly, Somali Senators and MPs have decided to take a bipartisan approach to the matter, with Senate Deputy Speaker Abshir Ahmed leading a team that met the aggrieved parents on Tuesday. It was the first time parents met people working for an arm of government.

The joint Upper and Lower House parliamentarians h agreed to set up a special desk tasked with gathering stats and information about the Somali soldiers being trained in Eritrea. This comes as a reprieve and could lead to a collection of more evidence, Ahmed added.

Although it's not clear if the parliamentary initiative would yield fruits, most of the outgoing legislators have vowed to seek the truth. Their term is almost ending given that the country will be going for an election in the coming months.

Documents obtained by Garowe Online indicate that the training in Eritrea was meant to stabilize the fragile administration of Farmajo, whose tenure ended in February. The young soldiers had been promised to be flown to Qatar, only to end up in Eritrea.

UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea Dr. Mohamed Babiker described the restrictions which have been placed on his work by the Government of Eritrea who has refused him access to the region. On Tuesday, he urged the UK Government to raise these restrictions at the UN Human Rights Council.

It's through Babiker that the world learned about the massive humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region and war crimes committed by Eritrean troops in the region. Despite pledging to withdraw the Eritrea troops, Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed has remained noncommittal.

But the African Union has now called for official investigations to the genocide in Tigray, adding the work will now commence immediately. The resolution was passed on Tuesday after months of pressure from the international community.

"The Commission of Inquiry was established pursuant to ACHPR Resolution 482 [EXT.OS/XXXII] 2021 on the fact-finding mission to the Tigray region in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, adopted at the 32nd Extraordinary Session held virtually on 7 May 2021," the commission said.

"The Commission of Inquiry has a mandate to, inter alia, investigate allegations of violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and to gather all relevant information so as to determine whether the allegations constitute serious and massive violations of human rights," the statement read.

But despite all these commitments, hundreds of parents in Somalia remain in limbo as the government fails to give briefings on soldiers' training in Eritrea. The African Union has also not committed itself to investigate claims on Somali troops fighting in Tigray, further complicating the matter.

GAROWE ONLINE