Somaliland this week tested new drones provided by the United Arab Emirates UAE and Taiwan.
Somaliland has been trying to acquire modern combat and surveillance drones. Last year a footage was released by Somaliland military. The footage made by a drone showed that Somaliland had acquired good quality reconnaissance drones.
This week Somaliland army tested drones in Berbera. Berbera, a coastal city, is one of the most strategic cities in Somaliland. It has a port built by UAE’s company DP World. DP World has 50% shares in Berbera port.
The drones tested in Berbera seem to be Chinese surveillance drones with endurance time of 8 hours. Somaliland’s neighbors have acquired more modern combat drones in recent years. Ethiopia bought modern combat drones from Turkey and UAE in 2021. These TB-2 and Wing Long helped Ethiopian federal forces in pushing Tigray forces back to Tigray.
Somalia has also acquired Turkish TB-2 drones. Turkey provided these drones to Somalia to use in the fight against Al Shabaab fighters.
With Ethiopia and Somaliland vowing to implement the controversial MoU singed in January this year, it seems that Somaliland’s military capabilities will be upgraded. Military co operation is part of the MoU. But Somalia has announced to stop the MoU, no matter what the cost is. It seems that coming months are crucial for peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
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