Somalia and Ethiopia sign cooperation agreement to combat terrorism

In Somalia, it was announced that the Director-General of its Intelligence and National Security Service, Mahd Mohamed Salad, signed a cooperation agreement with his Ethiopian counterpart, Tamseghen Tironeh, in Addis Ababa (Friday), while the US military said that it had killed 17 members of the “Al-Shabab” movement in an air raid carried out (Wednesday). ).
Today, the Somali News Agency reported that Salad and Tiruneh agreed to work closely in exchanging important information and combating terrorism together against terrorist groups. Because of the fighting that the Somali army is waging against it.”
Salad described the agreement signed between the two sides, as “has a special and beneficial meaning for the two neighboring countries and the security of the East African region.” The Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the Ethiopian Prime Minister agreed, in a previous meeting in Addis Ababa, to strengthen security cooperation and combat terrorism.
In a recent context, while the US military announced the killing of 17 al-Shabab militants, the Somali army said it had also killed 12 al-Shabab militants, pointing out that three soldiers were wounded “after thwarting a desperate terrorist attack in the Bardar area of ​​Hiran region in the center of the country.”
The US Forces Command in Africa (AFRICOM) said in a statement yesterday from its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, that “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, it launched a collective strike in self-defense against Al-Shabaab terrorist fighters who were attacking the army forces.” Al-Somali is located in a remote area about 285 km northeast of the capital, Mogadishu.
She explained that the initial assessment of the raid resulted in the killing of 17 terrorist attackers from the Al-Shabab movement, stressing that no civilians were injured or killed.
In May, after the election of the current Somali president, US President Joe Biden agreed to redeploy nearly 500 US troops in Somalia, more than a year after his predecessor Donald Trump ordered their withdrawal in December 2020.
The movement frequently carries out bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and other areas as part of its war on the central government there, as Somalia suffers from tribal conflicts and battles amid the absence of a strong central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
In the same context, the official “Somali News Agency” quoted the official spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Abdullah Anoud, that the Somali army, which received information that there was a plan to attack terrorists in the Baradar area of ​​Hiran region, which is 40 kilometers south of Beledweyne, killed 12 civilians. Al-Shabab movement members, while only 3 soldiers were wounded during the thwarting of the attack.
In parallel, the Somali president, who is visiting Eritrea with its president, Isaias Afwerki, inspected the Somali Air Force training camp there. Hassan said in a statement distributed by his office, that he had listened to reports from some army officers who confirmed their readiness to participate in the fight against terrorism to liberate the country and rebuild the government.
For his part, Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Berri inspected his country’s police forces, which are receiving a training course in Djibouti, where he asked them to focus on their work, in preparation for playing what he described as a “vital role” in maintaining the country’s security after completing the course.