Two trucks of smuggled weapons were exposed! Ethiopia is expected or blocked from Somali ports

According to local media reports in Ethiopia on July 20, not far from the Ethiopian capital, the North Shao District (North Shewa Zone) Dala District (the Darra district), continued to be subjected to armed clashes between Farno forces and government forces.

According to reports, three civilians have been killed and many others injured, and residents say the area has been a battlefield between Farno forces and the Oromo Liberation Army, as well as between various armed groups and government forces. For security reasons, residents evacuated regularly and a number of families were displaced.

In fact, in nearly a year, the Ethiopian government has repeatedly mobilized and deployed troops to the Amhara region of Ethiopia in an attempt to suppress the Fano forces here, but it has always been a failure. And extend the fighting to the Oromia area where the capital is located, while clashes between armed groups and government forces continue to cause casualties in West Oromia, leading to increasingly serious killings and kidnappings here.

At present, the ongoing conflicts in multiple parts of Ethiopia will seriously affect the country's economy, cause losses to the country's infrastructure, production capacity and supply chain, and restrict production and business activities. including coffee, tourism and other industries have been damaged.

In addition, the export problem of Ethiopia is serious. Clashes have been reported in the Galmudug State region of the Republic of Somalia because of the unrest in neighboring Somalia. Two trucks carrying Ethiopian guns and weapons were allegedly illegally transported into the central region of the Federal Republic of Somalia, so the Somali Government sent National Intelligence Service (NISA) forces to investigate and seize the weapons.

While the Somali National Intelligence Service (NISA) forces were transporting guns to the capital Mogadishu, they were intercepted and robbed by militia forces in Jamudug County, and armed clashes broke out. It is reported that 10 members of national intelligence and security sources, including a senior officer, were killed and the militia successfully seized two trucks carrying Ethiopian guns.

According to the Somali government, the guns were illegally smuggled from Ethiopia and contained a cumulative total of about 4000 machine guns, rifles and other weapons and large quantities of ammunition. However, the Ethiopian government has not issued any comment so far.

Recently, Ethiopia's coffee exports have been affected by continuous local armed conflicts and the Red Sea crisis. The port of Djibouti has always been the only port for all Ethiopian exports of goods, but it has been affected by the Red Sea crisis.

In March this year, MSC Shipping, which accounts for 80 per cent of Djibouti port business, suspended shipping services at the port, although it later resumed, but the number of ships decreased. But in early July, MSC Shipping said it would completely suspend operations in the port of Djibouti.

This will have a huge impact on Ethiopian coffee exports, so the country has earlier started looking for other ports to export. In February, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with the leaders of the local government of Somaliland in northern Somalia to grant Ethiopia the right to use the port of Berbera in Somaliland, but at the same time recognize Somaliland as an independent country in the future.

But the move upset the Somali state, because the Somali government believes that the agreement violated its sovereignty, leading to an escalation of the situation between the two sides, Ethiopia is still unable to use the agreement's port of Berbera. However, Turkey then intervened and hosted diplomats from Ethiopia and Somalia, and the three sides signed a joint statement after frank, friendly and forward-looking talks on their differences. And held another round of talks in Ankara on September 2.

However, in recent days, conflicts in Somali countries have been reported to be related to Ethiopia, which may further worsen the relaxed relations between Ethiopia and Somalia, making it impossible for Ethiopia to use Somali ports.

At the same time, the incident also reflects the ongoing conflicts on the ground in Somalia and the low security factor, and the export goods may be intercepted and robbed on the way to the port, resulting in the loss of the goods. As a result, the export volume and logistics costs of Ethiopian coffee will be affected.