Al-Shabaab militants have recaptured three towns since Ethiopian troops withdrew in October.
October 26, 2016 15:17 BST
Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for Somalia suicide car bomb attack IBTimes US
Ethiopia has blamed a perceived lack of support from the international community for the withdrawal of troops from parts of Somalia. Earlier this month, Ethiopian soldiers abandoned areas of south-western Somalia, including the strategic town of Tiyeglow, where they were helping in the fight against terror group al-Shabaab.
“The international community also has a responsibility either to train or to support the Somali national army in whatever way they promised, and if they do not make good on that promise and [the] Somali national army fails to discharge their responsibilities then of course, as they say, nature – and al-Shabaab – abhors a vacuum, so they’ll just move in,” Ethiopian communication minister Getachew Reda said, according to the BBC.
Reda said the Ethiopian contingent was not part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), but reassured Somalia it would assist “in any possible way to fill the vacuum”.
He also denied allegations that the decision to pull out troops was linked to a six-month-long state of emergency declared in Ethiopia in October, following months of unrest.
Al-Shabaab fighters have already recaptured Tiyeglow. The militants also regained control of the towns of El-Alif and Halgan, in the Hiran region, shortly after Ethiopian troops were evacuated from the area.
AMISOM has been accusing of failing to tackle the al-Shabaab insurgency.
Who are al-Shabaab militants?
Al-Shabaab, which means “The Youth”, is a Somali terror group affiliated with both al-Qaeda and Isis. An offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union – a rival administration to the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia – al-Shabaab aims to overthrow the Somali government and impose its own version of Islam in the country.
It controlled Mogadishu and the southern region of Somalia from 2006 until 2011, when it was defeated by African Union peacekeepers.
Al-Shabaab often targets Kenya in retaliation for the Linda Nchi military operation, which saw the deployment of Kenyan troops to Somalia to drive out the militants in 2011.
In one of its deadliest attacks, the militants killed 148 people at a university college in Garissa. The terrorists claimed the attack was carried out as the university was “on Muslim land colonised by non-Muslims”.
SOURCE – IBTimes
Ethiopia withdraws troops in Somalia over ‘lack of support’
26 October 2016
Ethiopia deployed its troops to Somalia to strengthen the weak UN-backed government
Ethiopia has withdrawn troops from Somalia, where they had been battling Islamist militants.
It blames a lack of international support for the move, following the EU’s recent cut in its funding for foreign troops in Somalia.
Ethiopia is a major contributor of soldiers to the Amisom, the African Union mission in the country.
Ethiopia has recently withdrawn from several other bases, which were quickly occupied by al-Shabab militants.
Officials in Somalia’s Bakol region say some residents have already fled the area since the Ethiopian troops left, fearing an imminent of al-Shabab, which is part of al-Qaeda.
Ethiopian Communications Minister Getachew Reda told the BBC that the troops withdrawn from south-western Somalia were not part of Amisom.
“It is a separate batch deployed to provide support for Amisom and Somali armed forces,” Mr Getachew said.
He also denied reports that the withdrawal was linked to unrest at home which led to a state of emergency being declared, saying there were enough troops to handle that.
There is a fear al-Shabab could move in to areas vacated by Ethiopian troops
He said the Somali army should have been in a position to move in after Ethiopia’s withdrawal.
“The international community has a responsibility either to train or to support the Somali National Army,” he said.
He went on to warn that indifference would only pave the way for an al-Shabab takeover.
The European Union is the main contributor of funding for Amisom. But it announced in June that its funding for the mission would be reduced by 20%.
BBC Somali’s Farham Jimale says Ethiopia is not the first provider of troops in Somalia to complain about a lack of international support.
Burundi, Uganda and Djibouti, which also contribute to Amisom, have made similar complaints in the past, he says.
