Jubaland and Southwest states of Somalia have announced support for the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia. Somalia’s states are not agreeing with federal government’s decision of expulsion of Ethiopian troops. Two regional states issued a statement in this regard within the last 48 hours.
Two days ago, the Security advisor of Somalia named Hussain Sheikh delivered a speech that Ethiopia cannot and will not be our ally. He said that Ethiopian troops will have to leave Somalia by the end of the year. After this, Antony Blinken, the secretary of state from the USA, called Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh. The US Secretary of State said all regional countries should fight together against Al Shabab. Secondly, he said that UN political mission should continue in Somalia.
But why does Somalia want to remove Ethiopian troops? In January 2024, an MoU was signed between two parties, Ethiopia and Somaliland. This MoU states that Somaliland will let Ethiopia use its ports as Ethiopia is a landlocked country and it has been using Djibouti’s ports. It will let Ethiopia build a naval base in Somaliland. In return Ethiopia will give shares to Somaliland in its organizations and it will recognize Somaliland as a country. Somaliland is internationally recognized part of Somalia but it has been struggling to get recognition as a country. Somalia got furious and warned Ethiopia to withdraw from this MoU. Somalia termed the MoU a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Jubaland’s Deputy President Mohammed Sayid Aden spoke today. He said we are happy with Ethiopian troops. If you want to remove Ethiopian troops, you need to ask us because we are also a part of Somalia. Around 5,000 Ethiopian soldiers are deployed to Bay & Bakol zones of Jubaland.
Southwest state, another regional state of Somalia, agreed with Jubaland. The Security minister of Southwest named Hassan Abdulkadir Mohammad spoke in this regard. He said we are happy with the presence of Ethiopian troops.
Will Federal government of Somalia take into consideration the opinion of its two regional states?
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