An agreement reached for the deployment of Ethiopian troops, but Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) is pending
Borkena
Toronto – Ethiopia’s Defense Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, and Intelligence Chief, Redwan Hussein, were reportedly in Mogadishu on what was described as an “unannounced” working visit.
The purpose of the trip was to discuss troop deployment in Somalia as part of the African Union mission. Sources indicate that the deployment of Ethiopian forces has been confirmed. Ethiopian and Somali defense forces have signed a bilateral agreement for troop deployment.
On Sunday, Garowe, a Somali news source, reported that “Defense Chiefs from Ethiopia and Somalia have agreed on the deployment of Ethiopian forces in the African Union’s new AUSSOM mission and pledged to draft a Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) to govern bilateral troops in Somalia.”
However, the exact number of troops Ethiopia will deploy as part of the African Union’s new mission remains unclear. Ethiopia has been a key contributor to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia, previously deploying as many as 10,000 troops, if not more.
In December 2024, Somalia announced plans to exclude Ethiopian troops from the new African Union mission due to the tension in connection with the MoU Ethiopia signed with Somaliland. Following a defense pact with Egypt in August 2024, Somalia permitted Egypt to send up to 10,000 troops—both as part of the African Union Mission and under a bilateral arrangement. Ethiopia viewed this development as a national security concern and warned that it could not ignore the move.
Last week, the first technical discussion aimed at resolving tensions between the two countries took place in Ankara. The tensions had persisted for a year after a memorandum of understanding was signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland, Somalia’s breakaway region. Foreign Ministers from both countries led their respective delegations to the Turkish capital for the discussions.
Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, met twice with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa after the two leaders signed the Turkish-mediated Ankara Agreement in December 2024 to resolve their differences.
As part of the Ankara deal, Somalia is said to have agreed to facilitate commercial port access for Ethiopia, a landlocked nation with a population exceeding 120 million. However, neither country has officially confirmed this arrangement.
__
Subscribe : https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/
Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena
Like borkena on Facebook
Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory Business Listing Toronto
Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter) @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com
This news is music to my ears. Somalia and Ethiopia have more in common than either Egypt or Eritrea. Their peoples are followers of the same religion and have the same people living in both countries. I can say now that I can keep my hopes on these two fraternal people alive.
On another news, this demonic earthquake does not seem to be leaving the old country alone. A powerful earthquake at 5.3 had struck the town of Asbe/Chiro in the Chercher Highlands. The earthquake was the strongest the area ever experienced and was felt along the old railway line. That is more than 100km from the usual quake center at Mt Fentale. Let’s hope and pray that it will not get stronger and will never strike densely populated cities like the capital.