Defend Truth

Eritrea blames neighbours for Somalia’s woes

Eritrea blames neighbours for Somalia’s woes

Somalia’s violence has been fuelled by interference from neighbouring countries, says Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki. He blames Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti for having fanned the conflict. And conflict there is, with Kenya and Ethiopia both accused of recent cross-border raids, following a 2006 Ethiopian invasion and fairly quick withdrawal. The Eritrean president is a former Marxist guerrilla, so being godless, one would think that he has no time for radical Islamist groups. But a week or so ago, Somalia’s foreign minister Ali Ahmed "Jengeli" said Eritrea should be punished for threatening the Horn of Africa region by supporting militant al Shabaab rebels, a group Washington says is linked to al-Qaeda. The US, Britain, the UN and the African Union also accuse Eritrea of supporting al Shabaab, with Britain telling the UN Security Council it is ready to punish Eritrea. But Eritrea’s Isaias says because the US is preoccupied with hunting terrorists, it complicates the peace process. We say, what peace process?

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.