Somalia Slams the Breaks on Ethiopia Over AUSSOM Role as Rift Fails to Heal

GOOBJOOG NEWS|NEW YORK: Somalia will no longer need the services of Ethiopian troops come January, the country’s representative at the UN has told the Security Council, effectively ending the prospects of Addis Ababa maintaining troops in Somali soil.

Addressing the Council Friday night, Somalia’s Deputy UN Envoy Mohamed Yusuf said Mogadishu had secured the requisite troop numbers through bilateral agreements with troop contributing countries to jumpstart the new security outfit set to commence operations in January.

“Regional partners from troop-contributing countries have shown remarkable solidarity, pledging to maintain our necessary force of 11,000 troops,” Yusuf said, adding, “This commitment addresses any security vacuum created by Ethiopia while sustaining progress in the fight against Al-Shabaab in the country.”

He noted that relations between Somalia and Ethiopia had soured in the last 11 months, thus informing his country’s decision to proceed without the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) in the new African Union Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).

This means Ethiopia will now have to pull out its troops from Somalia in the coming days. It not, however, clear what timelines have been put in place to ensure a seamless transition in light of the threat from Al-Shabaab taking over territories vacated by Ethiopia.

According to the ATMIS configuration, Ethiopia maintains troops in Sector 3, which covers parts of Gedo region in Jubaland and Bay and Bakool regions in South West state.

Somalia’s decision to lock out Ethiopia from AUSSOM comes amid the thawing of relations between the two countries following the signing of the Ankara Agreement on December 11. A communiqué from the talks mediated by President Recep Erdogan noted that the two countries had agreed to bury the hatchet and forge ahead in implementing the terms of the deal.

“They further agreed to closely work together to finalize mutually advantageous commercial arrangements through bilateral agreements, including contract, lease, and similar modalities, which will allow the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to enjoy reliable, secure, and sustainable access to and from the sea, under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia,” the communique read in part.

However, an incident last week in Dolow area of Gedo region changed the course of the warming relations between the two countries. Somalia accused ENDF forces of attacking three key bases manned by the Somali National Army, the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), and the Somali Police Force,” resulting in “casualties, including fatalities and injuries,” among Somali forces at these locations.

Mogadishu noted the incident amounted a to a “blatant violation of the Ankara Declaration, the principles and Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Charter of the United Nations, and the norms of good neighbourly relations.”

The two countries have been at odds since the controversial MoU between Ethiopia and the break-away region of Somaliland on January 1, 2024.