NAIROBI, Kenya
An Egyptian ship has delivered
a significant consignment of military equipment to Somalia, security officials
in the capital, Mogadishu, are quoted as saying.Somali Defence Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur shared this picture on social media praising the alliance with Egypt
Somali Defence Minister
Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur thanked
Egypt in a social media post without specifically mentioning the
weapons.
This is the second such
delivery from Egypt in a month as relations deteriorate between Somalia and its
neighbour and one-time close ally Ethiopia.
Egypt, a long-time rival of
Ethiopia, has taken the opportunity to move closer to Somalia, stoking concerns
about rising tensions in the Horn of Africa.
The military cargo, carried on
a warship that arrived on Sunday, included anti-aircraft guns and artillery,
the Reuters news agency reports citing security and port officials.
Our reporter in Mogadishu
himself saw weapons being transported through the streets of the city.
In his post on X, Mr Nur is
pictured with his back to the camera looking at a docked naval vessel.
"Somalia has passed the
stage where they were dictated to and awaited the affirmation of others on who
it will engage with," he wrote.
"We know our own
interests, and we will choose between our allies and our enemies. Thank you
Egypt."
This sentiment is a result of
shifting alliances in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia has for years been a
staunch backer of the government in Mogadishu in its fight against
al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab.
But Somalia is furious that
landlocked Ethiopia signed a preliminary deal at the beginning of this year
with the self-declared republic of Somaliland to lease a section of its
coastline. Somalia sees Somaliland as part of its territory.
Meanwhile, Addis Ababa and
Cairo have been at loggerheads for more than a decade over Ethiopia's
construction of a vast hydroelectric dam on the River Nile. Egypt sees this as
a possible threat to the volume of water flowing down the river, which it relies
on.
Somaliland, which is not
recognised internationally, said it was "deeply alarmed" by the
weapons shipment.
"The unchecked
proliferation of arms in an already fragile environment heightens the risk of
an arms race, with various factions likely seeking to acquire their own
stockpiles in order to safeguard their interests," Somaliland's
ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
At the weekend, in a further
sign of the strains in the region, Egypt called on its citizens living in
Somaliland to leave for security reasons.
This is not the first time
weapons have arrived in Somalia from Egypt. In August, two Egyptian military
planes delivered arms and ammunition to Mogadishu.
That delivery came after a
deal signed earlier in August during a state visit to Cairo by Somali President
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Ethiopia said at the time that
it could not “stand idle while other actors take measures to destabilise the
region”.
Somalia’s defence minister hit
back, saying Ethiopia should stop “wailing” as everyone “will reap what they
sowed” - a reference to their worsening diplomatic relations.
Ethiopia currently has 3,000
troops in Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting the government.
There is now a plan for up to 5,000 Egyptian soldiers to join a new-look AU
force at the end of the year, with another 5,000 reportedly to be deployed
separately.
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