Abiy Ahmed rejects Fahad Yasin's request for deployment of ENDF to Somalia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reportedly rejected a request by a senior Somali intelligence official to have several Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] troops deployed to Somalia's capital Mogadishu following fierce fighting over the weekend.

Troops from the Somali National Army [SNA] allied to the government engaged in running battles with those loyal to the opposition, leading to a standoff for several hours. The siege, reports indicated, favored the opposition which reportedly seized several parts.

The mutineers were against outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo's term extension, which had also been rebuked by members of the international community. Farmajo had his term extended by Lower House for two more years. 

And the tension, sources told Garowe Online, informed the decision by the National Intelligence Security Agency [NISA] chief Fahad Yasin to visit Ethiopia which is considered a "friendly" nation to ask for urgent support over the siege in the capital. 

Yasin, a close associate of Farmajo, who also once served as an Al-Jazeera journalist, traveled to Ethiopia on Monday. He was under firm instructions to ask for army support, terming mutineers as "insurgents" who were out to topple Farmajo. 

But Abiy Ahmed, when Ethiopia's PM who has been dealing with a lot of rebellion in his own country, "flatly rejected the request" and asked Yasin to "take Somalia back to elections". The spy chief is then said to have jetted back to Mogadishu. 

In Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed is battling with ethnic cleansing which has left thousands dead in what is associated with more freedoms after he took over in 2018. Recently, ENDF descended on Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] in a war that left hundreds dead.

There were reports that Somali troops training in Eritrea had participated in the war but the claim could not be independently established. Ethiopia denied the claims, only to admit later that Eritrea troops were in the Tigray region for the "special mission".

In Somalia, Yasin is one of the unpopular figures around the presidency and has often been asked to resign by the opposition. He's said to have engineered deployment of troops in Gedo, and his latest mission on Mogadishu flopped.

On Tuesday, all the three federal states that have been supporting Farmajo changed their tone, calling for dialogue in the country. The states include Hirshabelle, Southwest, and Galmadug and their change of course may have a negative implication on Farmajo leadership.

While Villa Somalia has not publicly commented on the clandestine mission by Yasin to Ethiopia, a seemingly subdued Farmajo on Tuesday said he will have a meeting with Lower House legislators to dissuade them against term extension. 

GAROWE ONLINE