File Photo/Somali Times
Egypt has started building its military operation in Somalia before the 31st of December, when the Somali government decided to withdraw the Ethiopian troops from the country, according sources told Somali Times.
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Cairo is also training and supporting Somalia’s security forces in the fight against Al-Shabab militias and Ethiopia.
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Egypt and Somalia, which are members of the Cairo-based Arab League, signed a military cooperation agreement in August. Egypt has since sent weapons, military advisers, trainers and counter-terrorism commandos to Mogadishu.
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Thousands of Egyptian soldiers are expected to be involved in the military operation by the end of the year, according to the sources. Ethiopia is believed to have about 22,000 troops in Somalia.
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Ethiopian troops are in the country under bilateral agreements, while another part of them is part of the peacekeeping forces of the African Union ATMIS.
Egypt has announced that it wants to replace Ethiopia’s peacekeeping forces by the end of this year, with Somalia’s clear support.
Some of the Somali forces supported by Egyptian advisers, the sources said, have already been sent to the supply routes of the Ethiopian forces, to prevent, if necessary, any attempt by Addis Ababa to send more troops into the country before the withdrawal deadline.
Sources have announced that Ethiopia has increased its troops in Somalia by 7,000, making it 22,000 soldiers days after Egypt started sending weapons and troops to Somalia.
Sources also indirectly criticized Egypt’s military role in Somalia.
Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie, who was the foreign minister at the time, said he was concerned that the weapons would “exacerbate Somalia’s fragile security and end up in the hands of terrorists”, referring to Al-Shabab.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, who responded to the statement, said: “The reason for Ethiopia to make these defamatory statements is its attempt to hide the illegal weapons imported to Somalia’s borders, which are in the hands of to civilians and terrorists.”
Egypt and Ethiopia have been at loggerheads for more than 10 years over the Addis-Ababa dam on the Nile, which Cairo sees as a threat, which relies on the Nile for 97% of its water.
Cairo’s actions in Somalia and the growing relationship with Eritrea reinforce Egypt’s growing determination to pressure Ethiopia into an agreement on the dam.
Both Somalia and Eritrea are located along the southern side of the Red Sea and are adjacent to Ethiopia to the south and north respectively.
Last week, Egyptian President Abdifatah El Sisi and the leaders of Somalia and Eritrea met in Asmara for a much-hyped summit.
El Sisi, who spoke to the media in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, said that his country “will provide all kinds of support to the government of our brothers in Somalia to restore its security”.
“We discussed practical recommendations to provide this assistance,” he added. “Egypt will spare no efforts or suggestions to serve the goals of our people and the aspirations of our nations in the Horn of Africa.”