Ethiopia pulled its last soldiers out of Somalia yesterday after a more than two-year intervention to combat an Islamist movement in its Horn of Africa neighbor, officials on both sides said.
The departure of Addis Ababa's roughly 3,000 troops ushers in a new era for Somalia. Some predict the power vacuum will herald more bloodshed, while others say it gives the nation of 9 million people a chance for national reconciliation.
Islamist groups still hold sway over much of Somalia outside the capital, Mogadishu, and the seat of the transitional government, Baidoa, but the Ethiopians said it was mission accomplished as far as they were concerned.
“The Ethiopian army has successfully completed its mission in Somalia and it has been fully withdrawn,” Minister of Communications Bereket Simon said.
“It was a successful mission. The major task to get rid of the extremist threat was accomplished swiftly,” Bereket said. “We believe that the forces of instability led by the Eritrean government have been dealt a heavy blow by Ethiopia.”
Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting the Somali Islamists, while the Eritreans had accused the Ethiopians of occupying Somalia.
Somali government spokesman Abdi Haji Gobdon said the remaining Ethiopian troops pulled out of Baidoa on Sunday night before heading further west toward the border.
“The Ethiopians have fulfilled their promise. Their last troops crossed the border this morning,” he said.
Clan militia and local police looted the empty Ethiopian bases in Baidoa, with two of them dying in the melee, witnesses said. “Militia and police fired as they fought over furniture, tents and other items,” police officer Ali Ibrahim said.
Ethiopian officials said they would keep a heavy presence along the long border with Somalia.
The Ethiopians entered Somalia to chase a shariah courts movement out of Mogadishu in 2006. That sparked an Islamist-led rebellion that has seen at least 16,000 civilians die and created a humanitarian disaster. The chaos has fueled a wave of piracy offshore.
Somalia's weak Western-backed government had depended on the Ethiopians for military support, and is now exposed to an array of Islamist opposition groups. The Islamists have, however, been fighting among themselves in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with hundreds of Somali politicians in Djibouti this week, the UN's envoy and other international players are pushing for a new administration to include the government and moderate Islamist factions.
The first steps in that, an expansion of parliament to include Islamists and then the election of a new president, were supposed to happen this week.
But Somali legislators, meeting in Djibouti because of insecurity at home, said yesterday they were likely to vote on a motion to allow more time for electing the new president.
Under the constitutional charter, a new Somali president should be chosen by parliament within 30 days of the resignation of former president Abdullahi Yusuf, who quit on Dec. 29.
Parliamentarians at the UN-hosted reconciliation process said they were looking for an extension of seven to 10 days.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS