The Russian government has offered to assist Somalia’s armed forces in their fight against the al-Shabab terrorist group following a meeting between Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs Abshir Omar Jama and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow yesterday.
According to Somalia’s state broadcaster, Russia offered to provide military assistance to Somalia in combating the militant insurgent group al-Shabaab. The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, made the proposal during discussions with his Somali counterpart, Abshir Omar Jama, in Moscow.
This offer from Russia comes after Mikhail Golovanov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Federal Republic of Somalia, visited Mogadishu earlier this month for a series of high-level talks with Abshir Omar Jama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The state-owned media did not specify the kinds of material Russia was offering to Somalia, which is under a long-standing U.N. arms embargo.
The offer highlights increased military activity in Africa. The Wagner Group, a private military firm equipment by the Russian Ministry of Defence, has been active in Libya, Mozambique, Chad and the Central African Republic.
Russia’s offer came hours after al-Shabab militants stormed a military base operated by African Union forces from Uganda in Bulo Marer, an agricultural town in the Lower Shabelle region, about 110 kilometres south of Mogadishu.
The embargo was established in 1992 in response to the civil war and factional violence outbreak. However, in 2013, the ban was partially lifted to assist Somalia’s security forces in their fight against Islamist militants.
Somalia is one of the few African countries that voted in favour of UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Russia doesn’t have an Embassy in Mogadishu, and its Ambassador is based in Djibouti.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was a former ally and a major military sponsor of Somalia’s former military junta. However, relations between the two countries deteriorated when Somalia severed ties after Moscow supported Ethiopia during the 1977 Ogaden War.
More recently, Russia and Somalia have had fairly routine diplomatic relations, with Russia sending humanitarian aid to Somalia several times.
