Ethiopian troops excluded from Somalia’s peacekeeping mission

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) will not play a role in Somalia's peacekeeping mission, a senior official said, setting the pace for yet another protracted dispute that could potentially injure the state-building process.

The new mission is set to be unveiled in January 2025 and will replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) would involve fewer troops.

Somalia and Ethiopia are at loggerheads over access to the sea, with Addis Ababa maintaining that it will try to peacefully access the Red Sea for the construction of a military base and port.

“I can say that Ethiopia is the only government we know of so far that will not participate in the new AU mission because it has violated our sovereignty and national unity," Somalia Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur said Saturday in a government-run television interview.

For 17 years, the African Union mission helped Somalia combat al-Shabab, a violent extremist organization that threatened to overthrow the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

At first, ATMIS (AMISOM) brought around 22,000 soldiers to Somalia but the troops' number is likely to be reduced significantly. There is active withdrawal going on, with member contribution countries set to reduce them further.

The new mission is expected to number at least 12,000. AUSSOM is scheduled to operate until the end of 2028. It is not the first time Somalia has rejected the involvement of Ethiopian troops in a peacekeeping mission in the country, Voice of America reports.

Somalia maintains that the Ethiopian troops would join the mission once the country withdraws the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. Ethiopia pledged to recognize the region as a sovereign state once the deal is implemented.

Professor Sonkor Geyre, a former director of the defense ministry, said Somalia has a right to choose the countries it wants and rejects others

“Somalia has national sovereign rights to exclude Ethiopia from the upcoming AU mission because it sees Ethiopia’s actions, including its MoU with Somaliland, as a national threat,” Geyre told VOA Somali.

Somalia has since signed a security pact with Egypt whose intention could be to back its soldiers in a potential war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia accuses Egypt of meddling in the internal affairs of the Horn of Africa region nations.

“There is an ongoing procedure that we will share and announce when the time comes regarding the new governments that will join and the previous ones who will not be part of the new mission," Nur, the defense minister, said.

Some of the countries contributing troops in the Horn of Africa nation include Kenya, Ethiopia, Burundi, Uganda, and Djibouti. Somalia now wants Egypt to take charge of the new mission, a move opposed by some of the countries that have been supporting Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE