Ethiopia-Somalia relations appear to be on the mend as the latter finally accepts the inclusion of Ethiopian troops within the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission (AUSSOM) which began in January.
This comes after months of strained relations over a territorial dispute between the two Horn neighbours.
The decision to include Ethiopian forces in AUSSOM came after the two countries signed the “Status of Force Agreement” on the engagement of their bilateral forces that will operate in Somalia, according to a joint communiqué.
The agreement came following talks between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Addis Ababa on 14-16 February 2025 which were followed up by more dialogues between both countries army chiefs in Mogadishu last Saturday.
Ethiopia had been a key troop contributor to the now defunct African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) that operated from 2022 to 2024 before being replaced by the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) since January 2025.
Somalia had insisted that it was not keen on Ethiopia contributing troops to the new mission given the state of ‘bad blood’ between them but after the latest round of talks including a meeting held in Turkey, relations between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu look set to normalise.
According to the joint communiqué, the Ethiopian troops have now been cleared to be part of the AUSSOM.
Somalia had accused its landlocked neighbour of violating its sovereignty by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its breakaway region of Somaliland in January last year for access to a Red Sea port in exchange for recognising the independence of the enclave.
The diplomatic initiative had culminated in efforts to bring the army hierarchies to the negotiating table.
Thus a delegation led by Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), paid a day-long working visit to Somalia last Saturday accompanied by Redwan Hussein, head of Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and other government officials.
They held talks with Somali military officials including Odawaa Yusuf Rageh, Chief of Defense Force of the Somali Armed Forces and Abdullahi Mohamed Ali, Director of National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) on ways of strengthening their alliance against the militant group al-Shabaab and maintaining peace, security and stability in the horn of Africa.
The joint communiqué stated that the military chiefs welcomed the commencement of AUSSOM and highlighted the importance of building on the achievements made by its predecessor ATMIS.
The military chiefs also underscored the role of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) in African Union peace support operations and agreed on the disposition of the ENDF in the AUSSOM.
They further emphasised the need to adequately support the current efforts to fight al-Shabaab and underscored their commitment to jointly working together to counter terrorism in the region.
MG/as/APA