NAIROBI – Somalia has accused Ethiopia of supplying weapons to its northeastern Puntland region, amid growing tensions between the Horn of Africa neighbours.

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 Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.

Tensions increased on 1 January when Addis Ababa signed a deal with another northern region of Somalia – the breakaway territory of Somaliland – which gives landlocked Ethiopia access to the ocean.

“Somalia strongly condemns the 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,” it added.

The Puntland region, which has been a semi-autonomous part of Somalia since 1998, said it would in January operate as an independent state following 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 Puntland region of Somalia, executed without any diplomatic engagement or clearance,” it stated.

“This activity constitutes a grave infringement on Somalia’s sovereignty, and poses serious implications for national and regional security,” it noted.

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

“Somalia demands an immediate cessation
of these transgressions by Ethiopia,” the statement added.

Ethiopia’s foreign ministry did not
immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. Three locals in Garowe, the capital of Puntland, told AFP they had seen a convoy arrive there on Friday evening, escorted by vehicles of the Puntland security forces.

“I had heard talk of an arms delivery from Ethiopia a few days ago,” said one of them, Mohamed Dalel.

“I saw a convoy enter Garowe last night (Friday) made up of two big trucks and several cars, escorted by the Puntland security forces,” he added. Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991. 

Under the January deal, it 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 has never been accepted 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 Somalia 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. 

– Nampa/AFP