Ethiopia plans to pull out thousands of troops from Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Ethiopia is planning to withdraw more than 3,000 troops from Somalia as renewed fighting at home puts pressure on its military, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, although Somalia said it had received no official notification of a planned pullout.

The troops could begin leaving in the coming days or weeks, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The sources were not authorised to speak publicly.

A Somali defence ministry official said Mogadishu had not been informed by Addis Ababa of any plan to withdraw its forces.

“Ethiopia has not informed us of any plan to withdraw its troops from Somalia. If they tell us that, we will let you know,” the official said.

It remains unclear whether the reported plan would affect Ethiopian troops serving under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM, forces deployed under separate bilateral security arrangements, or both.

Ethiopia has thousands of troops in Somalia and is one of Mogadishu’s main military partners in operations against Al-Shabaab. Ethiopian forces have operated in several parts of southern and central Somalia, including areas close to the two countries’ long border.

The reported withdrawal comes as Ethiopia faces renewed fighting in its northern regions, particularly Tigray, where federal forces and Tigrayan fighters have clashed again four years after a 2022 peace agreement ended a devastating two-year war.

The escalation has raised fears of a wider conflict after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front joined an alliance with several armed groups opposed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. Fighting has spread into parts of Tigray, Amhara and Afar, according to recent reports.

A major Ethiopian troop withdrawal could leave Somali and other AUSSOM forces facing the task of securing positions currently held by Ethiopian units, particularly in areas where they have maintained a longstanding military presence.

The report also emerged a day after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations as well as political and security developments in the Horn of Africa, but neither government said publicly that a troop withdrawal had been agreed.

Ethiopia has previously withdrawn troops from Somalia during periods of intense fighting inside its own territory, including during the Tigray war that began in 2020.

AUSSOM said earlier this month that Ethiopian troops serving in Sector 4 had completed a rotation, with new personnel replacing soldiers who had served a three-year deployment in Beletweyne and Halgan. The mission said the incoming troops would continue working alongside Somali security forces.