Somalia accuses Ethiopia of shipping arms to unstable region

Somalia has accused neighbouring Ethiopia of supplying weapons to its northeastern Puntland region, which this year unilaterally declared it would act as an independent state despite protests from the central government.

There is a history of stormy relations between Ethiopia and Somalia -- a fragile jigsaw of federal states, whose instability weakens the central government's ability to counter a long-running insurgency by the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.

Tensions between the Horn of Africa countries increased on January 1, when Addis Ababa signed a deal with another northern region of Somalia -- the breakaway territory of Somaliland -- which gives landlocked Ethiopia long-sought-after access to the ocean.

"Somalia strongly condemns unauthorised arms shipments from Ethiopia to Somalia's Puntland region, violating our sovereignty and threatening regional security," the foreign ministry in Mogadishu said on X late on Friday.

"We demand an immediate halt and call on international partners to support peace efforts in the Horn of Africa."

Somaliland is located between the Ethiopian border and Puntland.

The latter, which has been a semi-autonomous part of Somalia since 1998, said in January it would operate as an independent state due to a row with the central government over changes to the constitution.

In its post on X, the Somali foreign ministry said: "Documented evidence confirms the arrival of two lorries transporting weapons from Ethiopia to the Puntland region of Somalia, executed without any diplomatic engagement or clearance."

"This activity constitutes a grave infringement on Somalia's sovereignty and poses serious implications for national and regional security."

It did not say when the shipment occurred or who the weapons were sent to.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Under the January deal, Somaliland, which unilaterally broke away from Somalia in 1991, agreed to lease 20 kilometres (12 miles) of its coast for 50 years to Ethiopia, which wants to set up a naval base and a commercial port.

In return, Somaliland -- whose independence is not endorsed by Mogadishu -- has said Ethiopia would become the first country in the world to give it formal recognition, although these assertions have not been confirmed by Addis Ababa.

Senior officials in Mogadishu have said this agreement means thousands of Ethiopian soldiers stationed in Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab will now have to leave.

The troops are deployed on Somali territory under a bilateral accord and an agreement with the African Union.

On August 14, Mogadishu signed a military pact with Ethiopia's rival Egypt, which has offered to join the AU force in Somalia in 2025.

Turkey has been mediating since July between Somalia and Ethiopia in discussions aimed at resolving their differences.

Two rounds of talks in Ankara failed to produce tangible progress and a third round, scheduled for last week, was cancelled without any comment from either the host or the protagonists.