Concerns as Somalia ‘secretly sneaks in’ hundreds of troops trained in Eritrea


Hundreds of troops who have undergone training in Eritrea were secretly sneaked in back into the country in the last few days, 10 months after Somaliaffairs reported their departure to the Eastern Africa country.
Media sources say that several planes arrived in the last few nights in Mogadishu, bringing in the troops who have concluded months of training in Eritrea.
Hundreds of others were also flown to Eritrea using the same planes to undergo the same military training.
The reports indicate that the secret exercise is supervised by the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).
The secret mission has raised concern among some lawmakers and politicians in the country, some of whom have accused NISA of planning to use these troops to intimidate opposition politicians and rig the upcoming elections.
On 20 August 2019, Somaliaffairs reported that the Federal Government of Somalia transported 200 young men from the Aden Ade International Airport in Mogadishu to Eritrea.
The information received then by Somaliaffairs indicated that the youth were part of 600 young men the government had been gathering in Shirbow military camp in the capital, Mogadishu.
Somaliaffairs had also learnt that the Somali government was trying everything possible to make the training a secret and that once the troops were returned to the country, they would replace some existing forces and would be used for specific operations.

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