Ethiopia has deployed armored vehicles and hundreds of troops to its border with Somalia in recent days, following the delivery of Egyptian weapons to Somalia under a recent defense deal between the two Cairo & Mogadishu, according to multiple sources. No official comment has yet been made by Ethiopian authorities.
Tensions in the Horn of Africa began after Ethiopia signed a controversial memorandum of understanding with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease coastal land in exchange for possible recognition of Hargeisa’s independence from Somalia, which Mogadishu views as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The deal has brought Somalia and Egypt closer together, with Cairo fearing that Addis Ababa’s continued filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), now operational on the Nile River, will drastically reduce Egypt and Sudan’s water supplies.
Somalia’s Prime Minister Hamse Abdi Barre recently said that Ethiopian forces will not be included in the next African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) that will replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), unless Ethiopia renounces the memorandum of understanding it signed with Somaliland.
HBN ONline TV