The Egyptian government wants to send troops to Somalia to be part of the African Union’s ATMIS mission, according to sources.
This issue was brought up during the talks in Cairo between the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdelfatah al-Sisi, at the end of July.
“During the talks, Sisi repeated that he wants the Egyptian army to be part of the African Union mission in Somalia known as ATMIS,” said the sources, which did not provide further details. It is not clear what President Hassan Sheikh’s response was and if this was resumed after the meeting in Cairo.
Read: Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh history of corruption 2012-2017
Read: Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh history of corruption 2012-2017
If Egypt becomes part of the ATMIS mission, it will be a major change in regional and African politics, and it will be the first country in North Africa to join the ATMIS mission, formerly known as Amisom.
In any case, ATMIS was made one of the reasons for it to transfer the security mission of the country to the federal government within a short period of time, and there is no reason for the African Union to bring troops to Somalia, while others are being withdrawn.
This issue also attracts the attention of the Ethiopian government, which has a conflict with Egypt, based on the Nile River dam, and the government of President Hassan Sheikh political disaster.
“Egyptian troops coming to Somalia is a red line for Ethiopia that cannot be crossed,” said the sources.
Addis Ababa’s view is that the rapprochement between Cairo and Mogadishu is a direct threat to Ethiopia.