Thousands of Somaliland soldiers have entered Ethiopia for military training.
The training program aims to bolster Somaliland’s defense capabilities through advanced instruction in asymmetric warfare tactics, command and control with focus secure communication, weapons systems familiarity, and combat readiness.
Reportedly, thousands of Somaliland soldiers entered Ethiopia for military training on Tuesday July 9, 2024. “We saw many Tata cars passing by carrying Somali youths,” residents of Diredawa region of Ethiopia said this week. The state-run Somaliland television station showed thousands of army personnel on their way to Ethiopia for military training.
“The Chief of General Staff of Somaliland, Major General Nuh Ismail, accompanied the trainees on their way to the training,” the state-run Somaliland television station said in a report.
The Ethiopian government has not said anything about the military training. From the Somaliland side, there is no word on what kind of training they will receive, other than saying that the number of members of the army is in “thousands”.
The television station showed several buses and trucks leaving Somaliland and crossing the border town of Wajale into Ethiopia.
Around six months ago, Somaliland’s top military officers visited Addis Ababa and discussed military cooperation with their Ethiopian counterparts.
Ethiopia and Somaliland signed a controversial Memorandum of Understanding in January this year. The MoU is opposed by Somalia which calls it a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty. The MoU, if implemented, would give landlocked Ethiopia access to sea through Somaliland in return for recognizing Somaliland as a country. Somaliland is internationally recognized part of Somalia. But for the last 3 decades, it has been existing as an independent entity, lacking international recognition.
While Ethiopia is set to train Somaliland forces, Somalia’s forces are being trained by Eritrea and Egypt. Both the countries are not good terms with Ethiopia.
The Somaliland military training program in Ethiopia has been launched at a time when Somaliland and Djibouti and involved in a war of words. Somaliland accuses Djibouti of working to undermine Ethiopia-Somaliland MoU by backing SSC Khatumo and Awdal movements.
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