Ethiopia’s prime minister has warned that anyone planning to invade his country should “think ten times” before doing so, saying an attack would be repelled.
Abiy Ahmed did not direct his remarks at any specific country, but he made them at a time of rising tensions with neighbouring Somalia and Egypt.
Somalia has described the maritime pact that Mr Abiy’s government signed with the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in January as an act of “aggression” and has responded by forging closer military ties with Egypt.
Somaliland seceded from Somalia more than 30 years ago, but Mogadishu still considers it part of Somaliland.
Egypt has long been embroiled in a conflict with Ethiopia over Addis Ababa’s decision to build a major dam on a tributary of the Nile.
It is reportedly planning to send troops to Somalia after a military pact was signed between the two governments last month.
In a televised address to mark Ethiopia’s Sovereignty Day, Mr Abiy said the East African country has no intention of creating conflict.
However, he said that “those far and near” should know that “we usually embarrass and repel those who dare to intrude on us.”
“Anyone who plans to invade Ethiopia should think not once, but ten times, because we Ethiopians know better than anyone how to defend ourselves,” Mr Abiy added.
Somalia is angry over landlocked Ethiopia’s decision to sign a deal with Somaliland to give it access to a port.
Somaliland has also said it could lease part of its coastline to the Ethiopian navy in exchange for Mr Abiy’s government being the first to recognise the country as an independent state.
Tensions in the region rose last month after two Egyptian C-130 aircraft arrived in the Somali capital to bolster ties.
Egypt is reportedly planning to send some 5,000 troops to join a new African Union (AU) force in Somalia by the end of this year, with another 5,000 troops deployed separately.
Since 2007, an AU force has been in Somalia to help the government fight al-Shabaab, a jihadist group waging a brutal insurgency in the country.
Ethiopian troops are part of the force, but Somalia has announced it must withdraw next year.
Egypt accuses Ethiopia of endangering the Nile’s water supply by building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, from which 85% of the Nile’s water flows.
The Gerd is Africa’s largest hydroelectric project and Ethiopia considers it essential to meeting its energy needs.
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