{Ethiopia is considering integrating its troops in Somalia into the bigger UN-backed African Union force amid efforts to boost operations against Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab rebels, officials said Sunday.}
Ethiopian troops entered Somalia in November 2011 to support the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and local government forces, but has resisted integrating its soldiers into the mission.
“We didn’t re-hat our forces in the first place because we thought it would stand in the way of our command control, and of course it would stand in the way of our operational freedom,” government spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP.
“There is a need for more African forces, and if and when there is a request… we are willing to reconsider our position,” he said.
Getachew could not confirm when a decision could be taken, but said the number of Ethiopian troops in Somalia — in the “hundreds” — would not likely be increased.
Nation
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