Egypt conveyed its first military aid to Somalia in more than four decades, three diplomatic and Somali government sources said, a move likely to promote strains between both nations and Ethiopia.
Egypt and Somalia have drawn nearer together this year after Ethiopia inked down a preliminary deal with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease coastal land in return for conceivable acknowledgment of its independence from Somalia.
The Mogadishu government has called the deal an attack on its sovereignty and said it will obstruct it by all means necessary.
Egypt, in conflict with Ethiopia for years over Addis Ababa’s construction of a huge hydro dam on the headwaters of the Nile River, has censured the Somaliland deal.
It endorsed a security pact with Mogadishu recently and has proposed to send troops to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
Somalia had recently threatened to throw out Ethiopia’s up to 10,000 troops, who are there as part of the peacekeeping mission and under bilateral agreements to battle al Shabaab militants, if the deal is not cancelled.
Two Egyptian military planes touched down at Mogadishu airport on Tuesday morning with arms and ammunition, two diplomats and a senior Somali official told news sources, speaking anonymously.
One of the diplomats said that Somalia was behaving recklessly by bringing in the Egyptian arms and threatening Ethiopia.
Somalia and Egypt’s foreign ministries did not quickly respond to requests for comment.
Egypt’s proposal to contribute troops to another peacekeeping mission to be launched next year in Somalia was made known in an African Union communiquerecently. Cairo has not commented on the issue openly.
“If the Egyptians put boots on the ground and deploy troops along the border with Ethiopia, it could bring the two into direct confrontation,” said Rashid Abdi, an analyst with the Sahan Research think-tank.
“The threat of a direct shooting war is low, but a proxy conflict is possible.”
Ethiopia’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement that the nation “cannot stand idle while other actors are taking measures to destabilize the region”, saying it had worked to advance peace and security for Somalia and the region, including conversations to determine differences with Somalia.
“Instead of pursuing these efforts for peace, the Government of Somalia is colluding with external actors aiming to destabilize the region,” the ministry said.
Ethiopia’s statement did not mention Egypt or its arms delivery to Somalia.
Turkey has facilitated two rounds of backhanded talks since July between Somalia and Ethiopia over the Somaliland deal, which is yet to be concluded. A third round is expected a month from now.
Landlocked Ethiopia says it requires access to the sea. Mogadishu insists that Somaliland, which has not gotten international recognition regardless of enjoying functional independence for more than three decades, is important for Somalia.
