MOGADISHU, Somalia –Ethiopian government is reportedly planning to send fresh troops to its neighboring state of Somalia, amid talks between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu.
Somali politician, Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, leading Wadajir opposition Party called on Ethiopia to refrain from interfering in Somalia’s election affairs.
Warsame says Acting Director of National Intelligence and Security Agency held meetings with senior Ethiopian military intelligence officers in Addis, in order to deploy Ethiopian troops.
Mr. Warsame said the new troops from Ethiopia would be deployed into Dusamareb town and Kismayo, a coastal town lies some 500km south of Mogadishu.
He added the Ethiopian troops’ deployment into Kismayo and Dhusamreb towns to manipulate the Jubaland and Galmudug States’ elections.
In his Twitter posts, he said the Somali people had already suffered enough of Ethiopia’s flagrant interference in the Somali Presidential elections of 2017 and the 2018 South West State elections held in Baidoa town.
Somalia remains unavailable to comment on Warsame’s allegation.
Last year, at least 11 people, including soldiers and civilians, died in Baidoa during clashes after Ethiopian troops arrested former No. 2 leader of Somalia’s al-Shabab extremist group, Mukhtar Robow who was a top candidate in a regional election.
Robow’s arrest triggered days of street protests in Baidoa, some 250km south west of Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Mukhtar Robow’s defected from al-Shabab in 2017 and was much-touted by Somalia’s UN backed-government as a success in its fight against the militants.
The 49-year-old trained in Afghanistan and was a founder member of the al-Qaeda-linked group. But his standing with the government collapsed when he announced his candidacy to become president of South West state, according to BBC.
Ethiopia and the African Union mission in Somalia have remained silent about the alleged involvement of Ethiopian troops in the arrest.
