Tension rises between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu after agreement signed between Ethiopia and self-declared Republic of Somaliland

Somalia’s UN envoy accused Ethiopian troops on Monday of crossing the countries’ shared border illegally and confronting local security forces.

“Somalia reaffirms its commitment to respecting the principles enshrined in the UN Charter and good neighbourliness,” Abukar Osman told the 15-member Security Council.

“And we expect Ethiopia to do the same by reconsidering its memorandum of misadventure without any further delay.”

Mr Osman said that, because of Ethiopia’s “destabilising actions” in the wider region, Mogadishu has had to postpone from July to September the withdrawal of troops with the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.

Atmis is expected to conclude operations in the country on December 31 after 17 years in the country.

The force was first sent to help drive Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab out of the Somali capital and to support the internationally recognised federal government.

The AU force is operating under a UN mandate to counter a resurgence of Al Shabab and to train Somali security forces.

Tension is rising between Addis Ababa and Mogadishu, fuelled by an agreement signed in January between Ethiopia and Somaliland, a self-declared republic in northern Somalia.

Ethiopia said it would formally recognise the Republic of Somaliland in exchange for 20km of access to the Red Sea for Ethiopian naval forces, leased for 50 years.

Shortly afterwards, the Arab League convened a ministerial-level emergency session at the request of Somalia, reaffirming that Somaliland is an integral part of the country and categorically rejecting the January agreement.