The number of Somali army trainees that Eritrea sent to the Mekelle front on Farmajo’s consent varies from 3000 to 4000 depending on the source but the whereabouts and condition of the disputed youngsters remains a mystery to this day
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Parliamentarian Mahad Salad said only 180 of 3,000 Somali recruits deployed to Ethiopia’s Tigray region have survived, who are being treated at a hospital in the northern Ethiopian region’s capital, Mekelle.
Reports over the presence of Somali troops in the northern Ethiopian region have sparked calls by dozens of parents for government answers to the whereabouts of thousands of missing youths, who had been previously sent to Eritrea for military training.
On Sunday, Former Somali deputy intelligence chief Abdisalan Guled told media that “nearly 400” recruits were killed after Eritrea deployed 4,000 Somali troops it had trained, a day after Somaliguardian reported that dozens of Somali soldiers were killed in the conflict in the northern Ethiopian region.
Somali MP Mahad Salad, who have posted a statement on his Facebook page, noted that he was told that only 180 of 4,000 Somali soldiers deployed as cannon fodder to the Tigray region have survived the war, who are currently being treated for injuries at a hospital in Mekelle.
“One of those children who contacted his family days ago said they were transported to Mekelle and participated in the war there, he said their number was initially 3,000 and saw only 180 alive including him, who are sustaining injuries,” Mahad Salad said.
The MP called for the government to answer the calls of parents who are demanding explanation on the whereabouts of their missing children.
Former Somali Education Minister Abdullahi Godah, sternly speaking after reports emerged of Somali soldiers killed in Tigray region, said “there is no greater treason than this, Fahad [Somali Intelligence Chief] and Farmajo [Somalia’s president] will not get away with this crime they committed against the Somali people.”
Somalia’s Information Minister Osman Abokor Dube denied presence of Somali troops in Tigray and insisted reports suggesting that Somali recruits had been killed in Tigray were “fabricated”.
Source: Somali Guardian
