NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – The recent election of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as Somalia’s new president has emboldened Ethiopia’s Tigray forces, who are now considering attacking Eritrea’s capital Asmara, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The move could open a new chapter in Ethiopia’s conflict, which has displaced millions of people and claimed the lives of thousands. Tigrayans have been accusing both Eritrea and Ethiopia of imposing a de facto blockade on the northern region, and of using starvation as a weapon of war.
Somalia’s new President has longstanding relations with the Tigrayan authorities, who dominated Ethiopia’s politics for decades before Abiy rose to power in 2018, unlike his predecessor Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo who signed a tripartite agreement with Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders.
Tigray President Debretsion Gebremichael congratulated Mohamud on his resounding victory over Farmajo in an election held on Sunday and expressed “readiness to cooperate in the overall stability of the region, building upon excellent pre-existing relations.” Getachew Reda, a spokesman for Tigrayan rebels, said in comments on Somalia’s recent election that Isaias’s “pharaonic ambition in the Horn of Africa is decidedly unraveling”.
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