Reuters: Egyptian warship delivers large arms shipment to Somalia

An Egyptian warship has delivered a second large shipment of weapons to Somalia, including anti-aircraft guns and artillery, military officials and two port workers said on Monday, in a move likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries and Ethiopia.

Relations between Egypt and Somalia have grown this year over their shared mistrust of Ethiopia, prompting Cairo to send several planeloads of weapons to Somalia's capital Mogadishu after the two countries signed a joint security agreement in August.

Ethiopia has angered Mogadishu by signing a preliminary agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease a coastal port in exchange for possible recognition of its independence from Somalia.

Egypt has denounced the deal with Somaliland. Cairo has also been at odds with Addis Ababa for years over Ethiopia's construction of a massive hydroelectric dam on the Nile.

A diplomatic source said the Egyptian warship began unloading the weapons on Sunday. Two port workers and two military officials told Reuters that security forces closed the dock and surrounding roads on Sunday and Monday while convoys moved the weapons to a defense ministry building and nearby military bases.

Nusra Bashir Ali, an official in the office of Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, posted a photo on her X account showing Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur witnessing the unloading of the ship's cargo.

Egyptian authorities declined to comment or have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Egyptian media reported on Sunday that the Egyptian embassy in Mogadishu warned its citizens against traveling to Somaliland due to the security situation there.

There are at least 3,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping mission fighting Islamist militants, while the number of Ethiopian troops deployed elsewhere in Somalia is estimated at between 5,000 and 7,000 under a bilateral agreement.

Mogadishu has described Ethiopia's deal with Somaliland as an attack on its sovereignty, and said it wants all Ethiopian troops to leave by the end of the year unless Addis Ababa scraps the deal.

Meanwhile, the African Union said in July that Egypt had offered to contribute troops to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia, but Cairo has not commented on the matter publicly.

The Ethiopian government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, but has said in the past that it cannot stand idly by while “other actors” take measures to destabilize the region.

Source: Reuters