The government of Somalia Monday confirmed that Ethiopia troops will not be included in the African Union-led peacekeeping mission in the war-torn horn of Africa nation.
As the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) concludes at the end of this year, and the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) takes over, the authorities in Mogadishu are determined not to include Ethiopia in the mission.
The new mission is expected to operate in Somalia for four years.
The Ethiopian Defense Force has been an integral part of the peacekeeping mission in Somalia for well over 15 years, with thousands of soldiers having sacrificed their lives in the fight against al-Shabaab militants.
Somalia has expressed a preference for Egypt – with whom Ethiopia has tense relations due to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam – to be part of the mission, which Ethiopia views as a national security threat.
Egypt holds that a dam on the Nile will compromise its share of water from Africa’s longest river.
Mogadishu has a grievance of its own against Ethiopia after it signed last January a deal with Somaliland for access to a trading port.
Somalia which regards Somaliland as part of its territory accused Ethiopia of violating its territorial sovereignty.
Defense minister, Abdukadir Mohamed Nur, Monday announced that “Ethiopian forces have been excluded from participation in the new AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM),” as reported by the Somali National News Agency (SONNA).
He is quoted as saying, “We can confirm that Ethiopian forces will not be part of the new AU Mission, which is to launch operations in the new year, 2025, because Ethiopia violated our territorial integrity and sovereignty. The list of troop-contributing countries will be announced soon.”
During the ATMIS mission, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda contributed troops.
It is unclear at this point if the African Union is officially excluding Ethiopian troops from AUSSOM.
Ethiopia has not responded to Somalia’s expressed wish to exclude it from the mission.
