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2021-01-31 Africa Horn
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Parents of Somali soldiers fear sons fighting in Ethiopia
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| Follow-up on stories we've been running from Garowe. |
[AlAhram] The government has strenuously denied allegations that Somali troops were sent to battlefields in Tigray, where Æthiopian federal troops have been fighting with regional forces since November
Somalia is under growing pressure to explain the fate of soldiers whose families fear they were secretly deployed from training camps in neighbouring Eritrea
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
to fight in Æthiopia's northern Tigray region.
Continued from Page 3
But some politicians have written to Somalia's president appealing for information on behalf of desperate parents who say their sons in uniform have gone missing, and they have reason to believe they could be in Tigray.
Hussein Ibrahim said his son was told he was going to Qatar
 ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
for training, but wound up in Eritrea.
"I last spoke with my son 22 days ago. He told me he was fine but concerned, because some of his comrades were relocated from the camp and he didn't know to where," he said.
"I don't know who to ask about his fate. There are reports everywhere that those taken to Eritrea were sent to fight in Æthiopia, and that some had died."
Information minister Osman Abukar Dubbe on January 19 said "there were no Somali troops fighting in Tigray, and no such request made by the Æthiopian government", describing reports to the contrary as "propaganda".
'ALIVE OR NOT'?
But the whereabouts of the missing soldiers remains unclear, and the plight of their families has struck a chord in Somalia and raised difficult questions for politicians preparing for a fraught national election which had been scheduled for next month but is beset with delays.
"We need the Somali president to hear our appeal, and tell us if our children are alive or not," said Fadumo Moalim Abdulle, who believes her son was sent to Eritrea after being told he was going to Qatar.
In a letter dated January 18, the foreign relations committee asked President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, for "details about the number of soldiers in Eritrea for training, and when they are coming back to the country".
"We also understand that many parents have not been able to contact their children for some time, only to hear they were killed fighting in Tigray with government forces," the letter stated.
"Confirm where these soldiers are now, and put them in touch with their parents."
A military official, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, told AFP that some recruits were sent to Eritrea for training "but these reports about Somali soldiers sent to Tigray are baseless".
But Abdisalam Guleid, a former Somali deputy spy chief, told AFP that "Somalia had indeed entered the war, and that many soldiers had died," citing intelligence from Æthiopian counterparts.
'HUSH HUSH'
After three weeks of fighting, Æthiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in late November against the TPLF, the ruling party in Tigray, after the army captured the regional capital Mekele.
But the TPLF leadership remains on the run and has vowed to fight on. Thousands have died so far in the conflict, according to the International Crisis Group.
The fighting has raised concerns for stability in the wider Horn of Africa, with fears that Æthiopia's neighbours could be dragged into a regional conflict.
Æthiopia last week denied the presence of Somali troops in Tigray, and continued to dismiss witness accounts of Eritrean involvement in the conflict.
"Æthiopia has never invited any of the neighbouring countries or others to be part of this conflict. This is an internal matter; the Æthiopian army has done it by itself," said Dina Mufti, front man for Æthiopia's foreign affairs ministry.
In December, the US State Department said it was "aware of credible reports of Eritrean military involvement in Tigray" and called for their withdrawal. This month the state-affiliated Æthiopian Human Rights Commission accused Eritrean troops of looting in Tigray.
Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 in large part for initiating a rapprochement with Eritrea, whose President Isaias Afwerki and the TPLF remain bitter enemies.
Abiy also forged a three-way regional security arrangement with Eritrea and Somalia.
Analysts say it is plausible small numbers of Eritrean-trained Somalis were sent to Tigray, given Eritrea's long history of using regional forces under its tutelage for its own strategic gain.
"What's clear is that troops have gone to Eritrea. Some have come back. But the government has never given any details about these troops, not even their numbers or the fact there are cohorts," said one regional security analyst, who asked not to be named. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2021-01-31 00:00||
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