Somalia: Egypt to deploy troops to fight Shebabs

Somalia says Egypt has offered to deploy peacekeeping troops to the Horn of Africa country as part of a security partnership that is taking shape as the mandate of a long-standing African Union peacekeeping force comes to an end.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attended a summit in the Eritrean capital, Asmara , on Thursday , where he pledged strong regional security cooperation with the leaders of Somalia and Eritrea .

Somali officials said in a statement after the summit that they welcomed Egypt ‘s offer to deploy troops to Somalia as part of a stabilization force when the current African Union force is dissolved in December.

The statement said the leaders welcomed the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council to launch the African Union Stabilization Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), under whose mandate the Egyptians or others would be deployed.

A separate statement signed by representatives of Somalia, Egypt and Eritrea after the summit affirmed Somalia’s sovereign right to determine the composition, tasks and deployment schedule of AUSSOM troops.

Since 2007, the Somali federal government has been supported by an African Union peacekeeping mission in its fight against the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab , which has links to al-Qaeda and is responsible for deadly attacks in the country.

The Asmara summit follows a period of tensions in the region, due to disputes between Ethiopia and other countries.

The first dispute – between Ethiopia and Egypt – concerns Ethiopia’s construction of a $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile, a key tributary of the Nile. Egypt fears the dam will have a devastating impact on water supplies and irrigation downstream to Egypt unless Ethiopia accommodates its needs. Ethiopia plans to use the dam to generate badly needed electricity.

The second dispute, between Ethiopia and Somalia, concerns the breakaway region of Somaliland .

Somalia has sought to block landlocked Ethiopia’s efforts to gain access to the Red Sea through a contentious deal with Somaliland to lease a strip of land along its coastline where Ethiopia would establish a naval base . In return, Ethiopia would recognize Somaliland as an independent country, according to Somaliland officials.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia more than 30 years ago, but is not recognized by the African Union or the United Nations as an independent state. Somalia still considers Somaliland to be part of its territory.