NAIROBI, Jan 2 – Ethiopia’s Defense Minister Aisha Mohammed Mussa visited Somalia on Thursday, marking the first such trip since ties soured over Ethiopia’s plan to build a naval base in Somaliland, a breakaway Somali region.
Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ali Omar, confirmed the visit but provided no further details. Ethiopia’s foreign affairs ministry later stated on X (formerly Twitter) that both nations had agreed to collaborate on the African Union peacekeeping mission (#AUSSOM) and improve bilateral relations.
The visit follows a year of tensions sparked by a preliminary agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland. The deal proposed leasing a section of Somaliland’s coastline for an Ethiopian naval base and port facilities in exchange for potential recognition of Somaliland’s independence.
Mogadishu, which considers Somaliland part of its territory, denounced the deal as an act of aggression and threatened to expel Ethiopian troops unless the agreement was abandoned. Ethiopia has up to 10,000 troops in Somalia, deployed as part of the African Union peacekeeping mission and through a bilateral arrangement, to fight al-Shabaab militants.
The diplomatic standoff escalated for months, prompting mediation efforts. Talks held in Turkey in December resulted in an agreement to resolve the dispute through technical negotiations set to begin by February.
Regional analysts warn that the potential withdrawal of Ethiopian forces could weaken the fight against al-Shabaab, which has been conducting an insurgency in Somalia since 2007. The tensions have also raised fears of instability in the Horn of Africa, as Somalia has increased its engagement with Ethiopia’s regional rivals Egypt and Eritrea.
