The Federal Government of Somalia has dismissed claims that Somali troops took part in the Tigray conflict. Federal Information Minister, Osman Abukar Dubbe, said troops were only sent to be trained in Eritrea. Minister Dubbe said the troops issue is being politicised and dismissed reports that Somali troops were fighting in Tigray. The Somali federal government has also denied that Somali forces have fought or been “captured” in the Tigray region.
The Minister of Information acknowledged that soldiers were sent for training and reaffirmed that they were undergoing training in Eritrea. The Minister described the report as baseless and politically motivated. According to Dubbe, unnamed politicians want to “campaign on this particular issue with the support of foreign hands”. He noted that his superiors in authority were considering talking to the parents of their missing sons and that government media would visit the trained soldiers. The last week report by the UN regarding the Somali soldiers who were secretly trained in Eritrea and participated in the Tigray killings has elicited heated reactions among the parents of the said troops as well as the political class.
