By Mohamed Dhaysane
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Somalia received a large consignment of military equipment on Monday from Egypt amid tensions with a breakaway territory of the East African country.
An Egyptian military cargo ship docked at the port of Mogadishu accompanied by a small warship which provided escort and security.
The shipment is the largest since the UN arms embargo was lifted last December.
The military aid included heavy artillery and anti-tank weapons, according to local media.
The Somali government has not explicitly confirmed or denied the military aid, but Defense Minister Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, who visited Mogadishu’s seaport on Monday, thanked Egypt.
“Somalia has passed the stage where they were dictated to and awaited the affirmation of others on who it will engage with," Nur said in a brief statement on X.
He added that Mogadishu knows its “own interests, and we will choose between our allies and our enemies."
The military supplies come amid tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s sea access deal with Somalia’s breakaway territory of Somaliland.
The region has expressed grave concern over the supply of heavy weapons to Somalia by Egypt, which it said jeopardizes the security of a region already facing complex security challenges.
It said the unchecked proliferation of arms in an already fragile environment heightens the risk of an arms race, with various factions likely seeking to acquire their own stockpiles to safeguard their interests.