By Ashenafi Endale
December 28, 2024
Ethiopia will not take part in an upcoming African Union-led peacekeeping mission in Somalia, according to representatives from Mogadishu who announced the decision during a UN Security Council meeting this week.
“Due to documented actions of Ethiopian and Somalia in the past eleven months, the federal government of Somalia has undertaken a comprehensive review of its security arrangements, as we transition from ATMIS to AUSSOM. In that period, our regional partners from troop contributing countries have shown remarkable solidarity, pledging to maintain our necessary force of 11,000 troops of AUSSOM. This commitment addresses any security vacuum created by Ethiopia while sustaining progress in the fight against Al-Shabaab. In that vein, we emphasize that the current AUSSOM troop allocations are completed through bilateral agreements which have been in place [since] November. As Somalia moves forward, we will continue to engage in future security partnerships that serve our national and shared regional interests,” said the Somalian rep.
The speech indicates that Somalia determined who would take part in the peacekeeping mission last month, while Mogadishu was in the midst of a diplomatic row with Addis Ababa over a deal the latter made with breakaway Somaliland.
Although the Somali government has not disclosed the list of troop-contributing countries, reports suggest Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, and Burundi will take part.
https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/43152/
