While His on Attack, Somalia’s President on the Road Derailing Somaliland MoU with Ethiopia
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the president of Somalia, arrived in Cairo on Friday as his administration plans to work militarily with Ethiopia’s bitter rivals, Egypt and Eritrea, in revenge for Addis Ababa’s deal with Somaliland granting sea access.
The president of Somalia left on a comparable trip to Eritrea, where he and the country’s leader, Asaias Afwerki, talked about matters such as the contentious memorandum of agreement, though neither side disclosed specifics of their discussions.
In the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Tuesday, December 16, 2024, a suicide explosion left at least three persons dead and two injured, according to authorities..
Al-Qaeda-aligned militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying it targeted security officials.
According to the Somalia news website Caasimada Online, at least nine personnel of the military police units tasked with guarding the capital city of Mogadishu, Somalia, were slain after a nocturnal raid on their base on Friday.
Among the dead is the commander of the installation that was targeted in Mogadishu’s Kahda neighborhood.
Al-Shabaab, a militant organization affiliated with al-Qaeda, took credit for the attack and reported that it had wounded three soldiers and killed six. The rebel organization further asserted that after taking control of the camp, its fighters had taken possession of weaponry.
This is not the first terror cell to target army and police bases in Mogadishu’s suburb of Kahda; in earlier, comparable attacks resulted in the deaths of numerous soldiers and the seizure of military vehicles.
William J. Burns, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), paid a rare visit to war-torn Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, last Wednesday. Somalia’s reactions were rising over Ethiopia’s decision to lease land from Somaliland along the Red Sea.
“They discussed the fight against international terrorism and promoting regional stability,” according to the president of Somalia’s media office.
The United States voiced worries that the tensions currently on display would make it harder to combat and give the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab more confidence.
The ATMIS forces are currently in charge of ensuring Mogadishu city’s security, as the weak government led by President Hassan is unable to do so on its own.
A few weeks back, the government’s seat, Villa Somalia, its security was placed under the command of the Somali military, while the airport and many significant locations still currently relies on ATMIS for security.
Given Somalia’s current state of affairs, which the entire world is aware of, its meddling in Somaliland’s interactions with its surrounding countries is a sign of conflicting and misaligned priorities.