AU confirms Ethiopia will join Somali mission

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14 January 2014
Ambassador Smal Chergui, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, has confirmed that Ethiopian troops will join the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), but the extent to which this represents a real increase in the foreign military presence in the east African country remains unclear.

Chergui told a meeting of the AU’s Committee on Defence, Safety and Security in Addis Ababa on 14 January: “With Ethiopia joining the mission … the mission strength will now be about 22,000 uniformed personnel.

“This will enable us, together with our brothers in arms from Somalia, to resume military operations against the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, in order to create favourable conditions for further progress in the political process and the successful holding of elections in 2016″.

In November, the United Nations (UN) Security Council approved the expansion of AMISOM from 17,731 to 22,126 uniformed personnel. The main troop providers are currently Burundi, Kenya and Uganda, with Djibouti and Sierra Leone deploying smaller contingents.

Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh announced in late December that his country would provide a second battalion of around 1,000 soldiers.

Chergui had indicated that the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) would provide the other 3,000 troops needed to reach the new authorised strength. However, the ENDF already has a significant presence in Somalia, where they support government forces. While Addis Ababa has never said how many troops it has in Somalia, this could mean that the AMISOM expansion could be little more than a rebadging process that allows Ethiopia to access international funds to cover its military operations in Somalia. Some ENDF units may also continue to operate inside Somalia independently of AMISOM.

The rebadging of ENDF troops may also help Al-Shabaab mobilise resistance to AMISOM as Ethiopia is Somalia’s traditional regional rival. The Ethiopian invasion in late 2006 is widely viewed as a key factor in the emergence of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group as the most powerful Islamist faction in Somalia.

Nevertheless, the ENDF could contribute the helicopters that AMISOM desperately needs as its forces spread out across south and central Somalia. While the Kenyans have deployed some of their MD 500 Defender helicopters to the southern city of Kismaayo, AMISOM does not officially have any of the helicopters that have been authorised by the UN and AU.

Jeremy Binnie, London – IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly