Somalia has claimed that it intercepted 3 illegal Ethiopian arms shipments. Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia, levelled these allegation addressing the UN Security Council.
The FM said that within the last 3 months, Somalia intercepted 3 Ethiopian arms shipments meant to be delivered to Somalia’s regional states in northern, central and southern Somalia.
He said that the Ethiopian counter terrorism operations in Somalia are basically a coverup for the Ethiopian annexation of Somali territories. He strongly rejected Ethiopian attempt to build a naval base in Somaliland, calling it a violation of international law.
Last week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia, in a statement, accused Ethiopia of illegally transporting 2 lorries full of weapons to Puntland. Ethiopia has not officially responded to these allegations so far.
Ethiopia and Somalia have been locked in a dispute over a memorandum of understanding signed by Ethiopia and Somaliland in January this year. Somalia calls this MoU a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ethiopia intends to gain access to sea through Somaliland in return for recognizing Somaliland as a country.
Somalia and Ethiopia have held two round of indirect talks in Ankara so far. Though Turkey is optimistic about the start of the 3rd round of talks and finding a peaceful solution to the dispute, both Ethiopia and Somalia are sticking to their positions. Ethiopia seems to be committed to implementing its MoU with Somaliland, while Somalia, having signed defense agreements with Turkey and Egypt recently, vows to stop Ethiopia from implementing the MoU.
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