#Somalia, #Ethiopia to strengthen security cooperation
Somalia’s armed forces chief of staff met with his Ethiopian counterpart Monday to discuss security cooperation between the two East African neighbors.
A senior Somali military official familiar with the meeting told Anadolu Agency by phone that “Ethiopians are our neighbors and they are helping us in the fighting against al-Shabaab as their forces are in Somalia serving under the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM)."
On Friday, Somalia’s army chief was in Turkey to take part in a military and defense exhibition and held talks with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Yasar Guler.
They discussed ways to strengthen support from Turkey's military aid to the Somali national army, according to the military.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/somalia-ethiopia-to-strengthen-security-cooperation/2344093#

The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) yesterday announced that the election in Somali and Harari Regions as well as the south west referendum will be held Three weeks after the previously set date on September 30, 2021.

https://addisstandard.com/news-electoral-board-unveils-new-date-for-southwest-referendum-elections-in-somali-harari-regions/

Khartoum had asked the United Nations last April to withdraw the Ethiopian force from the border town on the grounds that Addis was no longer a neutral party.


Currently, there are over 3500 Ethiopian troops deployed in the area. At the time the ousted President Omer al-Bashir who was a close ally to the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had requested that this mention be exclusively formed by Ethiopian soldiers.


https://sudantribune.com/spip.php?article69981

#Ethiopia expects deliveries of Sputnik V in near future, Ambassador to Russia says

Ethiopia hopes to receive a batch of the Sputnik V vaccine in the near future after resolving some technical details, Ethiopian Ambassador to Moscow Alemayehu Tegenu Aargau said in an interview with TASS.

In response to a corresponding question, the ambassador said that he expected the "supplies of the Russian vaccine in Ethiopia in the nearest future." "I hope, the technical issues will be finalized soon," he added.

The diplomat noted that the Ethiopian government made a decision to acquire the Russian vaccine and he had no doubts with regards to that.

Source: Russian News Agency

#Somalia, #AU agree to extend #AMISOM’s mandate.
***AMISOM troop contributing countries include: #Ethiopia #Kenya, #Djibouti, #Uganda, and #Burundi.
Somalia and AU agreed to accelerate the implementation of the Somali Transition Plan [STP], which will lead to operational forces handing over responsibility for security to the Somali National Army [SNA] that will gradually be implemented.

Previously, STP was scheduled to be implemented in December 2021. Also, the two sides agreed that since terrorist group remains a serious threat to the country and therefore needed to work together to combat it altogether.
A clear map has been provided of how this can be achieved in the coming months.


Under the agreement, AMISOM command control will be improved; It also calls for greater joint operations with the police to ensure urgent address to threats to security.

https://mustaqbalmedia.net/.../somalia-au-agree-to.../

A joint task force was established by the Ethiopian Federal Police Criminal Investigation Bureau unit with the aim of upholding “the rule of law by arresting, and prosecuting, suspects dispatched by the TPLF and are involved in organized crimes.”

The joint task force is led by the Federal Police Criminal Investigation Bureau and includes police forces from all regional states, according to the Federal Police Commission.

https://addisstandard.com/news-analysis-amid-concerns-over-arbitrary-detention-of-tigrayans-ethiopia-forms-joint-police-task-force-to-arrest-prosecute-terrorists-dispatched-by-tplf/

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in a series of tweets on the account of the US Embassy in Addis Abeba, responded to accusations levied against it on social media platforms of obstructing aid delivery to the people of Tigray in collaboration with Tigray People’s Liberation.

https://addisstandard.com/news-analysis-days-after-usaid-accused-it-of-obstructing-aid-delivery-into-tigray-fed-govt-accuses-aid-agencies-of-colluding-with-tplf-usaid-rejects-accusation/

“He appreciated the riparian countries that have signed and ratified the Comprehensive Framework Agreement (CFA) and called on others to follow suit,” the statement from MoFA further said.

MoFA quoted the ambassadors as saying that cooperation was needed to jointly invest in cross-border resources and solve African problems through African initiatives
https://addisstandard.com/news-ethiopia-says-tunisias-ongoing-preparation-to-support-egypt-on-nile-issues-puts-all-riparian-countries-in-a-difficult-position/