Somalia has reportedly requested Eritrea for the deployment of Eritrean soldiers in Somalia. The request was made recently when Hassan Sheikh, the President of Somalia, visited Eritrea.
In Somalia, starting from January 2025, African Union’s new peacekeeping mission will take charge. The current mission has troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Djibouti. Somalia does not want Ethiopian troops to be part of the new mission. Ethiopia and Somalia are locked in a dispute over a controversial memorandum of understanding signed by Ethiopia and Somaliland at the start of this year.
The government of Somalia, led by the President Hassan Sheikh, wants Egypt and Eritrea to contribute troops for the new peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Egypt has already agreed to deploy its military. Egypt is supplying arms shipments too to Somalia’s military.
The President of Eritrea, Somalia and Egypt met in Asmara Eritrea last week. Their meeting was seen as a step towards the creation of a broad regional alliance against Ethiopia. All three countries are not on good terms with Ethiopia.
Reportedly, the President of Somalia asked his Eritrean counterpart to deploy Eritrean military for peacekeeping operations in Somalia starting from January 2025. Isaias Afwerki, the Eritrean President, agreed to consider this proposal.
Ethiopia is opposed to the deployment of Egyptian military in Somalia. In some recent statements, Ethiopia accused Egypt of destabilizing the Horn of Africa.
It would be interesting to see if western and American sponsors of peacekeeping mission in Somalia will agree to the deployment of Eritrean military in Somalia or not, as they have been accusing Eritrea of stoking conflicts in the region.
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