Outgoing Somali President Admits Sending 5,000 Troops to Eritrea

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Somalia’s outgoing president, acknowledged for the first time that 5,000 of the nation’s soldiers were sent to Eritrea last year to undergo training and said their return was delayed to prevent political upheaval.

The secret recruitment and dispatch of the troops sparked protests in Somalia last year, with their family members complaining that they weren’t notified of their whereabouts.