Report says Israeli military shipment entered Somalia under U.N. designation
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A shipment of military equipment from Israel reached Somalia’s capital carrying the designation of a United Nations office, Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television network reported Wednesday, citing senior strategic sources in the region.
The network said the cargo, estimated at about 1,000 kilograms, left Tel Aviv before passing through Nairobi and arriving in Mogadishu on June 21.
Al-Mayadeen reported that the consignment was listed as bound for a U.N. office in the Somali capital, though it did not name the office it alleged was linked to the delivery.
The report claimed the shipment came from Mer Security and Communications, an Israeli firm headquartered in Or Yehuda, and included a sophisticated communications system designed for military and intelligence purposes.
Somalia’s federal government, the United Nations and Israeli authorities did not immediately issue any comment on the report.
The allegation lands at a time of intensified attention on reported Israeli activity across the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea corridor, a key maritime passage connecting the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.
It also comes after Israel’s recognition of North Western State of Somalia and the breakaway region’s opening of an embassy in Jerusalem, developments denounced by Somalia’s federal government, opposition leaders and several Muslim-majority countries.
North Western State of Somalia proclaimed independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained international recognition. Somalia’s federal government insists the region remains part of its national territory and rejects any foreign move to recognize it.
AXADLETM
