Somalia Monday signed a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia, as the Horn of Africa becomes an arena for proxy wars between Gulf monarchies, with Abu Dhabi at loggerheads with Riyadh.
The region, strategically located between the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal on one of the world’s busiest trade routes, has increasingly attracted the interest of the Gulf states.
The agreement comes a month and a half after Israel recognised Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic that seceded from Somalia in 1991 but which Mogadishu still considers to be under its control.
Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Khalid Bin Salman, signed a “military cooperation agreement” on Monday, according to a message on X from the Somali defence ministry.
