Egypt sends military aid to Somalia as tensions soar with Ethiopia

Egypt delivered military equipment to Somalia on Tuesday amid rising tensions in the Horn of Africa region following a controversial deal struck between neighboring Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland earlier this year.

Three diplomatic and Somali government sources confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that two Egyptian military planes carrying weapons and ammunition landed at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu on Tuesday morning.

Local reports said two Egyptian C-130 aircraft arrived in the Somali capital. The Egyptian and Somali governments have not commented on the news.

Background: The arrival of military equipment to Somalia comes nearly two weeks after Egypt and Somalia signed a defense pact and a military cooperation protocol.

The pact was signed during an Aug. 14 visit by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In a press conference following the meeting, Mohamud hailed the pact as a “testament to a future of common defense against the international terrorism we are combating both at home and abroad.”

Sisi, for his part, reiterated his country’s support for Somalia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and rejected any interference in its internal affairs.

The Egyptian leader further said he was ready to deploy troops to the current African Union peacekeeping force (ATMIS) stationed in Somalia, but “only if we are asked to.”

Details of the defense pact were not made available to the public.

Egypt is preparing to support the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), which is set to begin its mission in January 2025, replacing ATMIS, whose mandate expires at the end of 2024.

The AU's Peace and Security Council confirmed in an Aug. 1 communique Egypt’s plan to join the AUSSOM and send troops to Somalia as part of the new mission that aims to support the East African country in the face of security challenges.  

Egyptian-Somali relations have steadily grown since Mohamud’s election in June 2022. Cairo sought Mogadishu’s support in its dispute with Addis Ababa over the latter’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Egypt has also backed Somalia in its dispute with Ethiopia after the latter struck a deal with Somaliland in January, giving landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea via the port of Berbera in Somaliland, and in exchange, Addis Ababa would recognize the breakaway region as an independent state.

Somaliland, a 177,000-square-kilometer (68,340-square-mile) territory on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, declared its independence from Somalia in 1991. However, it remains recognized internationally as part of Somalia.

In contrast, Egypt has been engaged in a more than decade-long dispute with Ethiopia over the latter’s controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which it is building on the Blue Nile.

The dam, whose construction began in 2011, has caused serious concern among Ethiopia’s downstream neighbors, including Egypt, which fears it will affect its share of Nile waters, on which it depends almost entirely to meet its drinking and agricultural needs.

Ethiopia says the $4.6 billion project is vital for its economic development and efforts to pull millions of people out of poverty.

Somalia-Ethiopia tensions: Somalia has vehemently rejected the Ethiopia-Somaliland deal, which it deemed a violation of its territorial integrity.

Somalia recently threatened to expel thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country as part of ATMIS unless Ethiopia scraps its deal with Somaliland, Somali national security adviser Hussein Sheikh-Ali told Reuters back in June.

In another move further deepening the Somali-Ethiopian dispute, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority earlier this month warned it would suspend Ethiopian Airlines' flights to Somalia after the air carrier allegedly replaced the names of Somali airports with codes on its booking systems and websites. The authority viewed the move as a “violation of its sovereignty.”

According to Ethiopian reports, Ethiopian Airlines resolved the issue and made the required adjustments.

Ethiopia has defended its deal with Somaliland, saying no laws were broken and no country will be affected.

Know more: The January deal has raised concerns of its impact on the already volatile region as several major powers are vying for influence.

Turkey and Somalia have signed several agreements in the past months, including a defense and security cooperation agreement in February and an offshore energy cooperation accord in March.

Most recently, the Turkish Parliament approved a presidential motion to allow the Turkish armed forces to send naval forces to Somalia for two years as part of the joint defense agreement.