Young Somali recruits were sent to train in military camps in Eritrea in 2019. But their relatives say they do not know what has become of them. And rumors of their fate are popping up. The soldiers are suspected of having had to leave the training camps to reach the Tigray region of Ethiopia to take part in the fighting along with the Eritrean troops.
as reported from Nairobi, Albane Thirouard
Mogadishu and Asmara deny the allegations, saying these troops are still in training camp. To arouse suspicion, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has just announced the establishment of a commission to investigate the fate of these Somali soldiers.
This new Commission has several objectives. Mainly: to clarify the whereabouts of these Somali soldiers. That is, confirm if they are still in training camp in Eritrea. And above all, raise the suspicion that they have been expelled in Ethiopia. Because anxiety has reigned over their fate for several months.
It all started in January, when a former head of the Somali intelligence service claimed that more than 300 recruits, between the ages of 20 and 30, had been killed in fighting in Tigray. A rumor that annoyed the parents. Without news of their children who had gone to education in Eritrea, they demonstrated several times in the capital.
In early June, a UN report also claimed to have received information that Somali soldiers had been deported along with Asmara troops from military camps in Eritrea to Tigray. They would have been seen especially in the city of Axum.
This new Commission of Inquiry must therefore remove doubts about these allegations. But that is already the target of criticism. The opposition is calling for a more independent team, including members of civil society and various political parties. The Commission currently consists of high-ranking officials such as Defense and Home Affairs Ministers and the Chief of Staff.
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