The Ethiopian Gov’t has sent large numbers of Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) near the border town of FeerFeer which is located in the border between Ethiopia and Somalia. The deployment of Ethiopian troops is meant to participate the ongoing offensive against Alshabab militant group in Hiran and Middle Shabelle region. This was confirmed by Somalia’s Minister of Defense, Hon. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Jama. Speaking to Somali state-run television, he said that Ethiopian Air Force got from the Somali Gov’t the greenlight and the go ahead to conduct bombings and strikes against Alshabab hideouts in Middle Shabelle region.
Ethiopia and Somalia forged close security cooperation. The minister has not given full details of the casualties in the wake of Ethiopian airstrikes. He said: ” It is not possible to conduct an airstrike inside Somalia without the knowledge of Somali Federal Gov’t.” The airstrikes comes at a time when Alshabab surged its attacks against bases manned by Somali troops in Middle Shabelle region. The Somali troops backed by allied forces and in conjunction with friends in the world are preoccupied to launch offensive against Alshabab fighters in a bid to liberate large swathes from al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group of Alshabab.
The Ethiopian Air Force carrying out airstrikes is part of security agreement between Ethiopia and Somalia and in particular the fight against Alshabab. The minister further added that the military cooperation is part of a deal signed in Ankara between the two countries which brought Addis Ababa and Mogadishu to forge close security cooperation. Last month Ethiopia and Somalia officially signed an agreement whereby Ethiopia was allowed to serve in the new African Union Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The bilateral ties between the two countries dramatically improved after Ethiopia rescinded its controversial agreement with Somaliland which it leased 20 km of its coastline to Ethiopia in order to set up a naval base and in return Ethiopia was supposed to grant recognition to Somaliland.
The security cooperation between Ethiopia and Somalia is meant to keep Alshabab fighters in central Somalia at bay. The deployment of Ethiopian troops to Feer Feer is part of an ongoing efforts to eliminate the threat posed by Alshabab to Somalia and Ethiopia.
