Hassan Sheikh's dilemma over Somali soldiers training in Eritrea

MOGADISHU- When he took office on Monday, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was confronted by a number of challenges mainly revolving around national security and political conflict, setbacks which he will have to tackle for him to survive the tough politics of the country.

Under Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, cohesion, security, and humanitarian operations were hugely disrupted in Somalia, with the former president also facing accusations of misusing security forces within the Horn of Africa.

Interestingly, on his first day in office, Hassan Sheikh had the first hurdle squarely presented to his office, with the question of Somali soldiers training in Eritrea arising during the handing over ceremony at Villa Somalia, the office he departed over five years ago.

Former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo handed over a file for at least 5,000 soldiers training in Eritrea, whose facilitation back home was to take place immediately. In his defense, Farmajo claimed their return was delayed to avoid impacting the political situation and elections.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he would work on the return of Somali soldiers trained in Eritrea “as soon as possible” so that they could participate in the liberation of the country. He is yet to reveal what was in the handover file presented by Farmajo.

One of the major tasks is to reintegrate the soldiers into the Somali National Army [SNA], which might take a long period since their training was directly linked to the politics of that time. The opposition, which has since taken over, accused Farmajo of training them for political expediency.

Analysts say Hassan Sheikh should be honest and sincere with the Somali people and let them know what is on that file. “He should set up an independent commission that investigates thoroughly if there were any cadets sent to Tigray, “ one of them added.

The question of the cadets participating in the Tigray massacre will be one of the topical issues which Hassan Sheikh will have to answer, given that a report published by the United Nations special rapporteur to Eritrea claimed the soldiers may have participated in the Tigray massacre.

During this massacre, it's believed that many of them died, and others managed to return to the country secretly. So clandestine was their training in Eritrea that the matter was only known by a few people at Villa Somalia, who never dared to give details.

A report published by Garowe Online first triggered a debate about the soldiers' whereabouts, leading to massive protests in the country. A number of family members thronged the streets, accusing Farmajo of forcing the soldiers to cross over to Tigray, where they assisted Ethiopia National Defense Forces [ENDF] in exterminating Tigrayans.

Besides answering whether they participated in the Tigray massacre, the new president will also have to tackle pending cases, including the murder of Ikran Tahil, a young NISA cyber security agent who disappeared and was declared dead under unclear circumstances.

Multiple sources linked her death to the revelation of the covert training of Somalia soldiers in Eritrea. It was around this time that people believed it to be her colleagues who picked her up before kidnapping her using the service vehicle. The NISA team confirmed her death, but the body is yet to be recovered.

GAROWE ONLINE