https://sagire.online/topic/horn-of-africa/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/247fbd94/https://sagire.online/wire/247fbd94/Thu, 05 Nov 2026 00:21:00 -0300Somalia rejected Israel’s accreditation of an ambassador to Somaliland and the laying of a cornerstone for an embassy in Hargeisa, calling the moves violations of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Somalia’s Foreign Ministry said the steps had been taken without the consent of the federal government and declared them “null and void and without legal effect.” Israel’s first ambassador to Somaliland, Michael Lotem, presented his credentials to Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro in Hargeisa last week, and a cornerstone ceremony for a future Israeli embassy followed. Israel formally recognized Somaliland on December 26, 2025, becoming the first United Nations (UN) member state to do so since Somaliland’s 1991 declaration of independence, and no other has followed. The Somali government called on Israel to reverse the measures and urged countries and international organizations not to take any steps that could legitimize them.SomaliaIsraelHorn of AfricaDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/3859957d/https://sagire.online/wire/3859957d/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 19:23:00 -0300Ethiopia expelled six staff members of Sudan's consulate in Assosa, a western city near the Sudanese border, and ordered the mission closed, according to officials from both countries. Sudan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that drones used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the country's electricity infrastructure were supplied by the United Arab Emirates and launched from Ethiopia, and that it had filed formal complaints against Addis Ababa at the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of backing the RSF, while Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of supporting rebels in Tigray; Ethiopia denies backing the RSF and Sudan denies backing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Amjad Farid, political and foreign affairs adviser to Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, said the government remains committed to its right to defend its territory but is making every possible effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia withdrew three diplomats from its consulate in the eastern Sudanese city of El Gedaref, and reports suggested Sudanese authorities ordered the Ethiopian diplomats there to leave in retaliation; neither foreign ministry issued an official statement on the mutual expulsions, according to the Sudan Tribune. Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023, has displaced more than 14 million people, according to UN figures, in a Reuters text republished by the Straits Times.EthiopiaSudanHorn of AfricaDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/9cc879cf/https://sagire.online/wire/9cc879cf/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 12:23:00 -0300Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomatic staff members to leave the country within 48 hours, according to a senior Ethiopian official cited by Reuters, in a text republished by Addis Standard. The six were ordered to leave Sudan’s consulate in Assosa, the administrative center of the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The decision comes days after Sudan’s army-aligned government lodged complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of allowing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use Ethiopian territory to launch drone attacks. Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of backing Tigrayan rebels, and both sides deny the allegations against them. On October 1, Ethiopia had already closed its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours.EthiopiaSudanDiplomacyHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/820aebe0/https://sagire.online/wire/820aebe0/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 05:23:00 -0300Former US contractor Abraham Teklu Lemma admitted sharing dozens of classified documents and photographs with Ethiopian officials over more than two years, according to the US Department of Justice. He worked as a contractor at the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for US intelligence satellites. The material included satellite imagery and details of military activities, passed on through encrypted messages, and the FBI said Ethiopian officials used the intelligence in military operations. In one message to an Ethiopian official in December 2021, Lemma wrote that “we have to finish these people once and for all,” because otherwise there would never be peace in Ethiopia, and later that day he urged the official to send drones. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit national defense information to a foreign government, faces sentencing on April 14, 2027, and could get up to 22 years in prison.EthiopiaUnited StatesJusticeHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/af328c5b/https://sagire.online/wire/af328c5b/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:23:00 -0300Kenyan authorities, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Kenyan Red Cross, began around October 31 registering at the Harhosa and OMC shelters in Marsabit County the Ethiopians fleeing the clashes in Moyale, a border town jointly administered by the Oromia and Somali regions, with more than 50,000 crossings since late October, according to Kenyan media, and agencies appealed for about $8.9 million for three months of response, in an Addis Standard text republished by AllAfrica.KenyaEthiopiaHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/af7fa551/https://sagire.online/wire/af7fa551/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:23:00 -0300Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi formally accepted the credentials of ambassador Michael Lotem at a ceremony in Hargeisa, the territory’s capital, where officials also laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy. Israel is the only state in the world to have recognized Somaliland, which also enjoys substantial economic ties to the United Arab Emirates. The mutual recognition between the two countries was signed on December 26, 2025. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the appointment of ambassadors is another important step in deepening the ties between the two countries. Abdullahi said during the ceremony that it was the first time a Somaliland president had received the credentials of an ambassador from a UN member state recognizing its independence.IsraelHorn of AfricaDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/650b438c/https://sagire.online/wire/650b438c/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 06:23:00 -0300The Indian Navy freed the fishing vessel Azini from armed pirates and rescued all 20 crew members without casualties or injuries, in an operation spanning more than 48 hours. The vessel had been hijacked last month off the northeast coast of Somalia and there was a risk it would be used as a “mother ship” for further attacks on merchant shipping in the region. Marine commandos were dropped by precision airdrop from an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft, after the vessel was located and contained by non-kinetic measures. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the operation was completed on November 2, more than 3,000 km from Mumbai. The 20 crew members were Iranian, according to the Mehr News agency.IndiaSomaliaHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/4ab75b25/https://sagire.online/wire/4ab75b25/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 06:22:00 -0300The first contingent of 109 troops of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) left Mogadishu on Friday, following an announcement by Uganda's army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027. Around 4,500 Ugandan troops are stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union mission (AUSSOM), as well as about 2,000 deployed under bilateral agreements. Uganda was the first African country to deploy troops to Somalia, under the African Union mission established in 2007 to help protect the country's transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants. Uganda's army said the withdrawal will mark the end of its 20-year peace and stabilization operations and permit the Somali Armed Forces to assume full responsibility for security in the country.UgandaSomaliaHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/56a19a8a/https://sagire.online/wire/56a19a8a/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 17:22:00 -0300Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia, and the first contingent has already returned home. The withdrawal of all its forces, including those deployed under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), is due to be completed by the close of 2027, days after the UN ended its political mission in Somalia.UgandaSomaliaHorn of AfricaUnited Nations https://sagire.online/wire/4b4576ff/https://sagire.online/wire/4b4576ff/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 11:22:00 -0300All forces, including those under the African Union mission, will exit Somalia by the end of 2027 in the phased withdrawal Uganda has begun after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country.UgandaSomaliaHorn of AfricaDefense https://sagire.online/wire/7d3313c4/https://sagire.online/wire/7d3313c4/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 10:22:00 -0300The United Nations political mission in Somalia (UNSOM) ended after a two-year transition, closing a chapter of more than three decades of UN peace operations in the Horn of Africa country. UNSOM was established by the Security Council in 2013 to support Somalia’s transition to democracy and the rule of law after more than two decades of conflict involving militias, Islamist groups and criminal gangs.SomaliaUnited NationsHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/3a87bd4e/https://sagire.online/wire/3a87bd4e/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 07:21:00 -0300The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) says that 500 soldiers were killed and 800 wounded in clashes with the Ethiopian federal government's army and allied forces in the country's northern Tigray region. The figures were reported by the TPLF-affiliated Dimtsi Weyane television station, could not be independently verified, and the Ethiopian government has not commented on the claims.EthiopiaConflictHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/fc3895ad/https://sagire.online/wire/fc3895ad/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 06:22:00 -0300Sudan has lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council after a series of deadly drone attacks this year, according to Al Jazeera.SudanEthiopiaDronesUnited NationsHorn of Africa https://sagire.online/wire/def0f12f/https://sagire.online/wire/def0f12f/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 04:21:00 -0300Somali pirates seized the Iranian fishing vessel Azini, carrying 23 people, and the Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warned the ship was approaching a commercial shipping lane and could become a floating base for further attacks. The Azini was hijacked on Thursday between Bandar Bayla and Hafun in northeastern Somalia, a Maritime Police Force officer from Puntland said on Sunday. According to the officer, 12 pirates seized the vessel, which was carrying 21 Iranian crew members and two Somali guards.SomaliaIranHorn of AfricaTransit https://sagire.online/wire/dd8a07ad/https://sagire.online/wire/dd8a07ad/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 11:22:00 -0300Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed put cabinet ministers and other senior government officials through military training at the Hurso center, saying armed forces discipline can help build stronger leaders, the BBC reported. Those taking part include the speaker of the House of Federation, Muferiat Kamil, the finance minister, Fitsum Assefa, and the health minister, Mekdes Daba. The training comes as Ethiopia faces multiple security challenges, including continued fighting in parts of the northern Tigray region, conflict in Amhara and insecurity in Oromia.EthiopiaHorn of AfricaAfricaDefense