Egypt and Djibouti are showing interest in deploying troops to Somalia in January 2025. A new African Union mission is due to start operations in Somalia in January 2025. The mandate of existing current mission called African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) will expire this year. Somalia for years has been fighting an extremist religious group called Al Shabaab.
The new mission, called African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), will follow the transition from the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). ATMIS has soldiers from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi and Djibouti. It remains to be seen which countries will finally be part of the new AUSSOM.
Egypt and Djibouti and particularly on good terms with the President Hassan Sheikh government of Somalia. Both the countries support Somalia in the ongoing confrontation between Ethiopia and Somalia over a controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed by Ethiopia and Somaliland in January this year. Somalia is keen to give greater security role to Egypt and Djibouti next year.
Arrival of Egyptian troops in Somalia will not be welcomed in neighboring Ethiopia. Ethiopia and Egypt have been involved in a dispute over the building of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The dam is being built in Ethiopia on River Nile. Egypt and Sudan, downstream river Nile countries, have been opposing the construction of the dam.
Last month, Ahmed Fiqi, the Foreign Minister of Somalia, announced that all Ethiopian troops will leave Somalia. Keeping in view ongoing tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, it seems that Ethiopia will not be part of AUSSOM. But Ethiopian troops deployed under bilateral arrangement in Jubaland and Southwest states of Somalia will continue as the two federal member states of Somalia oppose the immediate and full withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.
Turkey & Egypt Jointly Voice Support for Sovereignty of Somalia