Mogadishu 22, January 2014: The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) today welcomed 4,395 troops from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) at a flag ceremony which took place in Baidoa, in the Bay region of Somalia. This ceremony follows the acceptance of the offer by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the African Union to deploy its troops in Somalia under AMISOM.

The Ethiopian troops, working alongside the Somalia National Army (SNA), will be responsible for the Gedo, Bay and Bakool regions.

The Ethiopian troops will be commanded by an Ethiopian sector commander who will in turn report to the AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. General Silas Ntigurirwa, under the overall directive of Ambassador Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia.

The Ethiopian troops will constitute AMISOM’s sixth contingent, after Burundian, Sierra Leone, Djiboutian, Kenyan and Ugandan contingents.