The UN has launched a new African peacekeeping mission to continue its fight against the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabaab group in Somalia, but doubts whether the troops will come from neighboring countries. Ethiopia It will remain a part of the deployment.
The UN Security Council adopted a decision on Friday authorizing the deployment of up to 12,626 personnel in support of Somalia’s nearly two-decade-old war against al-Shabaab insurgents.
An existing peacekeeping force called the African Union Transitional Mission Somalia (Atmis), whose mandate will end at the end of this year, will be replaced by the smaller African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (Aussom).
The two peacekeeping forces preceded the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which was the largest, longest-running and most brutal such mission in history.
Al-Shabaab, a jihadist organization with roots in Ethiopia’s 2006 invasion of Somalia, has been carrying out regular attacks across the region and in neighboring Kenya. In the month of Aug. nearly 40 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded when the beach attacked the Somali capital Mogadishu.
James Kariuki, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, accepted the resolution; true council that “strongly strengthens” support for Somalia in the fight against al-Shabaab. “It allows Aussom to support Somalia in the fight against al-Shabaab, strengthen Somalia’s stabilization efforts and bring humanitarian aid,” he said.
The Gauls were also in council called adoption by the Senate as “a big step” and “a new stage in support for Somalia’s efforts to fight the al-Shabaab group.”
It is not clear whether Ethiopia, which has been a major contributor to the past two iterations of the peacekeeping force, will be allowed to play a role. Somalia and Ethiopia have been engaged in a years-long dispute over maritime access that Ethiopia has applied to the separatist northern region of Somaliland – which Somaliland officials say will lead to Ethiopia being the first country to recognize the region’s status.
The agreement between Somaliland and Ethiopia was strongly opposed by Somali officials, who called it an attempt to “annex” part of their territory. The agreement with Ethiopia would reportedly allow part of Somalia’s coastline for potential naval use.
Somalia first hinted in the summer that it would transfer Ethiopia from the African Union’s long-standing peacekeeping mission against al-Shabaab in parts of southern and central Somalia, and replace its contingent with forces from other countries, including Egypt, with which Ethiopia has relations. by his mother he set out by the Nile.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dissolved the agreement between the defections of the neighbors last month in Ankara’s declaration, which was meant to refer to Ethiopia’s access to the sea address. At that time, the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said that Ethiopia would allow him to keep his troops on a peacekeeping mission.
Mohamed Rabi Yusuf, Somalia to the UN. he said The Somali government had completed a “comprehensive review of its security arrangements” and was willing to commit forces from other countries to Somalia. “This mission addresses any security vacuum created by Ethiopia while supporting progress in the fight against al-Shabaab,” said Yusuf.
The Ethiopian delegate, who was present at the UN Security Council, said that his country was “to fulfill its role in the Atmis mission”, adding that “extra-regional actors”, likely to Egypt, should be left behind. careless study”.
Ayub Ismail Yusuf, a Somali MP and member of the Somali parliament for foreign affairs, called on the Somali government to exclude Ethiopia from the peacekeeping force. “No nation can trust another, where the government threatens them;” sent on the 10th
But it was too late after at 10, Somalia’s national security adviser, Hussein Sheikh-Ali, suggested a decision had not yet been reached on whether to allow Ethiopian troops to remain, but added: “The spirit of the Ankara declaration remains strong and alive.”
Earlier this week, the Somali government claimed that Ethiopian forces attacked members of its armed forces in the southern state of Jubbaland, causing casualties and injuries. Ethiopia denied the allegation, attributing it to unnamed “third party” actors; according to verbatim