Date: Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Ties between Egypt and Somalia have grown this year over their shared mistrust of Ethiopia.
An Egyptian warship has delivered a second major cache of weaponry to Somalia including anti-aircraft guns and artillery, officials said, in a move likely to stoke further friction between the two countries and Ethiopia.
“A shipment of Egyptian military aid has arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu to support and build the capabilities of the Somali army,” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The shipment “reaffirms Egypt’s ongoing central role in supporting Somali efforts to develop the national capabilities necessary to fulfil the aspirations of the Somali people for security, stability, and development,” the ministry said in the statement.
Egypt delivered its first round of military aid to Somalia in more than four decades in August.
Ties between Egypt and Somalia have grown this year over their shared mistrust of Ethiopia, prompting Cairo to send several planeloads of arms to Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, after the countries signed a joint security pact in August.
Ethiopia angered Mogadishu by agreeing to a preliminary deal in January with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease land for a port in exchange for possible recognition of its independence from Somalia.
Ethiopia also has at least 3,000 soldiers stationed in Somalia as part of a peacekeeping initiative called the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which is working to suppress an armed uprising, while an estimated 5,000-7,000 soldiers are deployed in other regions under a bilateral agreement.
Meanwhile, Egypt, at odds with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa’s construction of a vast hydro dam on the headwaters of the Nile River, has condemned the Somaliland deal.
In January this year, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said Cairo stands shoulder to shoulder with Somalia.
“Egypt will not allow anyone to threaten Somalia or affect its security,” el-Sisi said, speaking at a news conference with visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Cairo has also offered to contribute soldiers to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia, the African Union said in July, though it has not commented on the matter publicly.
