Ethiopia and Djibouti review joint defense activities

Ethiopia’s Minister of Defense, Siraj Fegesa, and his counterpart Hassan Darar Houffaneh, Djibouti’s Minister of Defense, met on Friday April 18  to carry out an evaluation of their six-months cooperation, based on the agreement signed in 2013 covering the exchange of military information, military training and joint activities in controlling activities of smugglers, terrorists and other ‘spoilers’, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

During the meeting Minister Siraj noted that troops of the two countries were coordinating their activities in areas where “they are both deployed on peace keeping mission”, the Ministry said, adding,  “in Somalia where they were deployed in AMISOM’s sector four, they had had achieved commendable results in coordinating activity and experience sharing in successful operations against Al-Shabaab.”

 During the previous six months, Djiboutian soldiers had been trained in Ethiopia while joint border control activities and cooperation over exchanges of information had also been successful. Minister Siraj noted that as the transit corridor connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti was an area which saw heavy economic activity, the safety of their joint was a matter of great importance and of national security for both states.

Djibouti’s Minister of Defense, who emphasized the importance of peace and security as an important prerequisite for continued development, said their joint cooperation over defense was contributing significantly to strengthening bilateral relation of the two countries. Ambassador Suleiman Dedefo, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Djibouti, noted at the end of the meeting the two countries would be making further efforts to control cross-border smuggling and illegal trade.

Photo Caption: Hassan Darar Houffaneh, Djibouti’s Minister of Defense

Photo Credit: DjibTalk News Internationale /Djibouti