Ethiopian troops to join AMISOM

By STANDARD REPORTER

Ethiopian troops will join the African Mission to Somalia – AMISOM as part of renewed efforts to combat terrorism in the Horn of Africa region.

Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has said Ethiopian troops will join the Kenya and Uganda troops that are part of the AMISOM fighting Al Shabaab insurgents inside Somalia.

Speaking when he hosted Deputy President William Ruto at his office in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, the prime minister said his country’s security chiefs were already engaged in strategy talks with their Kenyan counterparts on the joint operation. Mr Desalegn said there was a renewed terror threat in Ethiopia and this called for a joint security operation to eliminate the threat. ‘The threat is real and the war against terror should continue in all fronts, said Desalegn.

Ruto said Kenya had borne the brunt of terrorism and welcomed Ethiopia’s decision to join AMISOM in order to fight terrorism. “Recently we had a terror attack that left several people dead and many others injured, and we welcome every effort to fight terror”, he said citing the recent terror attack at the Westgate Mall.

Ruto said as part of a campaign to eliminate the threat of terror, an estimated one million Somali refugees would be repatriated under an agreement to be signed in Nairobi tomorrow.

The repatriation is being undertaken by the Kenya and Somalia governments together with the UN Commission For Refugees. The two leaders also discussed border security that they said continued to undermine development along the Kenya/Ethiopia border.

They agreed there was need to engage communities along the border in other economic activities such as agriculture to minimise perennial border conflict.

It is against this background that the Ethiopian Prime Minister said his government was keen to partner with Kenya in creating an economic zone in Moyale under the Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor project – LAPSSET. The Ethiopian PM described the LAPSSET project as a land mark that could turn the economic fortunes of millions of people in the region. ‘There is a lot for us in Ethiopia to gain from this project,’ he said.