Somalia & Egypt will conduct joint military exercises amid rising regional tensions. Date, venue and scale of the military maneuvers have not been announced so far.
“The drills will send a clear and loud message about our firm commitment to co-operate and protect Somalia,” one of the officials said. “They’ll mean much more than just war drills.”
The drills are being conducted amid rising tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia. Ethiopia and Egypt have also been locked in a dispute for years over Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Egypt Somalia military alliance against Ethiopia is a new regional development.
Ethiopia, at the start of this year, signed an MoU with Somaliland to gain access to sea and build a naval base in return of recognizing Somaliland as a country. Somalia calls the MoU a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Egypt wants Ethiopia to sign a legally binding agreement about GERD, which Ethiopia never agreed to.
Last week, 2 Egyptian military transport planes landed in Mogadishu with troops and military armaments on board. Egypt is going to be the main contributor to the new peacekeeping mission in Somalia, due to start in January 2025. Ethiopian troops part of the existing peacekeeping mission in Somalia will have to leave.
Egypt on weekend wrote a letter to the UN against “unilateral actions” of Ethiopia about GERD. “The government of Egypt … stands ready to exercise its right to defend and protect the rights and interests of the Egyptian people, in accordance with the UN Charter,” Egypt told the Security Council in Sunday’s letter.
It seems that Egypt-Somalia joint military drills will lead to further military escalation in the Horn of Africa prompting response from Ethiopia.
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