Somalia confirms Saudi-funded troops crossed into Ethiopia
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia has acknowledged that soldiers trained with Saudi funding crossed into Ethiopia’s Somali region, ending days of uncertainty over the troops’ whereabouts and status.
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National Security Adviser Aways Haji Yusuf said the soldiers had spent more than a year training at the Xananbuure military camp in central Galgaduud, where Saudi Arabia financed their instruction.
Yusuf said the troops had received permission to visit their families and that Somalia’s federal government knew they were in Ethiopia’s Somali region.
“If there are any other developments, we will inform the media,” Yusuf told journalists.
The confirmation came after conflicting accounts circulated in recent days about Somali forces crossing the border. Some reports said the soldiers had been detained and later moved to Jigjiga, the regional capital.
The size of the group remains uncertain. Reports have placed the number of soldiers involved between 180 and 900, figures that could not be independently verified.
Somalia’s government has consistently said the troops were authorised to visit their families, but it has not formally responded to claims that some of the soldiers may have deserted.
The episode has prompted renewed questions about the decision to allow the soldiers to enter Ethiopia, particularly as reports indicate that many of them come from Ethiopia’s Somali region.
It unfolds against a backdrop of strained relations between Somalia and Ethiopia, which have faced a series of diplomatic disputes in recent years.
AXADLETM
