The Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman is accusing Ethiopia sending troops inside its territory without permission, APA learnt on Wednesday.
Osman said thousands of heavily armed government soldiers crossed Hiran administrative zone via Mataban District.
“Due to disruptions by Ethiopian forces, including unilateral actions and illegal border crossings, Somalia has been forced to postpone the September transition,” Osman told a UN Security Council briefing on Monday.
Speaking about the plan to withdraw about 4000 ATMIS troops by the end of June, the ambassador cautioned the Council about the implications of these destabilizing actions for Somalia and the wider region, urging Ethiopia to respect the Charter of the United Nations and principles of good neighbourliness by reconsidering its “memorandum of misadventure” without any further delay.
The authorities in Ethiopia have not commented on Somalia’s claims.
His statement was in reaction to reports that Ethiopian soldiers entered Somalia’s Hiraan region on Friday, 21 June 2024, to monitor threats from al-Shabaab but withdrew the following day.
This comes against the backdrop of souring diplomatic relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa in recent months following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland, granting the former access to the sea for a leased military base in return for recognition for the latter.
Although with its own currency, Somaliland is still regarded as an enclave of Somalia by the international commnity which has refused to recognise it as an independent country.
On 31st May, Hussein Sheikh Ali, the National Security Adviser to Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said Somalia expects all Ethiopian troops to leave the country.
At least 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers are reportedly stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which combats al-Shabaab, an Islamist militia that controls swathes of the country.
A large number of non-ATMIS Ethiopian troops have been reportedly deployed to several parts of the country for years.
MG/as/APA