NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – Ethiopia is planning to establish military bases in the Red Sea amid simmering tensions in the region, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Din Mufti said on Wednesday.
During a press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa, he said “different countries are showing interest in controlling the Red Sea region by establishing military bases more than ever before”.
Egypt and Sudan, whose calls for Ethiopia to halt the second filling of a mega dam on the Blue Nile River fell on deaf ears, have concluded war games on Monday in what regional experts said were maneuvers aimed to send a message to Addis Ababa that Cairo and Khartoum are determined to fight for the rights of their citizens to have their share of the Nile waters.
Mr Mufti noted that his country is watching closely a “worrying” scramble in the Red Sea as the situation continues to change by the day.
It is unclear how the landlocked Horn of Africa nation will be able to build military bases in the Red Sea but there have been reports over the past years that the country has been reestablishing its navy, buying warships and training naval forces.
Speaking on concerns raised by Egypt and Sudan after Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed had announced plans to build new dams, Mufti replied that “as long as his country is committed to international law, what is the problem if the sovereign on his land says that we will build 100 or 1,000 new dams”.
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