Unease

The defense deal between Egypt and Somalia has stirred up worries about Cairo's clout in the Horn of Africa. Recently, Egypt and Somalia have been engaging in high-level security discussions. These talks focus on the stationing of Egyptian forces as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). This move has sparked regional apprehensions regarding Egypt's growing strategic and military sway in the Horn of Africa. According to a senior Egyptian security official, "A significant meeting took place in Mogadishu…

Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister, Taye Atske Selassie, voiced apprehension over the meddling of "external forces" potentially destabilizing an already tenuous security scenario, and feared that weapons could land in the hands of terrorists. Ali Omar, Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, took to X to express surprise at Ethiopia's reservations regarding Somalia's procurement of arms for defending sovereignty and combatting terror. Amid a protracted clash with Ethiopia over a significant dam project on the Blue…