Eritrea: Aiding Terror?

By Francis Mureithi

On November 1^st, 2011, Kenya accused Eritrea of shipping heavy artillery and explosives to Somalia to arm the Al Shabaab.

Kenya military spokesman Emmanuel Chirchir, in a briefing statement stated: "We reliably confirmed that two aircrafts landed in Baidoa with arms consignment intended for Al Shabaab." Chirchir did not name Eritrea as the source of the weapons. However, internet sources including the Somalia Report, an internet based newsletter, reported that Eritrea flew in arms through Baidoa airport on Saturday.

Somalia MP Mahamud Abdullah Wehliye was quoted as accusing Eritrea of flying in weapons and explosives to Al Shabaab controlled Baidoa. “Eritrea officers have imported ... many modern weapons, including heavy artillery, bombs, light weapons and heavy ones. We got this information from Al Shabab officers in Baidoa”, the MP is quoted as saying. “The Eritrean government is adding fuel to the worsening situation in Somalia. They are giving support to ... Al Shabaab. We request the United Nations and the internal community to step in,” he added.

The newsletter quoted residents as saying that the Al Shabaab closed the area around the airport to allow in the shipments on Saturday. “After three hours, I saw more than ten vehicles coming from the airport to a building in the centre of the district," said the report.

In his briefing statement, Chirchir cautioned Somalia residents against being used as conduits for the arms. He cited several areas in the region which were targeted for attack as they were Al Shabaab camps. Addressing an Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) meeting last July, President Kibaki accused Eritrea of arming the Al Shabaab insurgents. He asked Igad to rein in Eritrea, which was destabilising regional peace through supplying arms to Somali militants.

Did kenya's claim hold much water? To answer this question, ponder on this:-

On 4 July 2011, IGAD held its 18th Extra-ordinary Summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, which focused on the situation in Somali and the activities of the State of Eritrea in aiding extremist and subversive groups to destabilize the region. The Executive Secretary of IGAD, Mahboub Maalim, basing his address on the reports of the Eritrea Somalia Monitoring Group (ESMG), fully briefed the summit on the destabilizing activities of Eritrea not only in Somalia but also in the entire region. Since 2002, the Somalia Monitoring Group has investigated the role of the Eritrean regime in destabilizing Somalia. Its reports reveal that in the May-November 2006 hiatus, the Eritrean regime used dhows, vessels and leased aircraft to transport weapons to Somalia. This effectively subverted the efforts of the African Union and the United Nations to restore peace and stability in one of Africa‘s war-ton failed states. Driven by geo-political rivalries, religious and ideological differences, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt supported Eritrea to supply arms and train extremist groups. In December 2009, following revelations of its activities in support of terror networks, the UNSC imposed targeted sanctions on Eritrea. On 10 March 2010 the Security Council expanded the mandate of the Monitoring Group to cover ―oversight of the arms embargo on Eritrea and the designation of individuals subjected to a travel ban and asset freeze for violations.‖ The group was renamed Eritrea Somalia Monitoring Group (ESMG), highlighting the critical role of Eritrea in destabilizing Somalia.

Sample this:

Table 1: Eritrea’s support of Somali extremists, May-November 2006

DATE	SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
6 May 2006	An Eritrean military aircraft–Antonov – delivers a shipment of anti-aircraft guns.
15 June 2006	Four Eritrean military aircrafts delivers in Somalia assorted arms including AK 47 assault rifles, PKM (machine guns), RPG launchers, a variety of ammunition and military uniforms.
4 July 2006	Four Eritrean military aircrafts transport to Mogadishu arms for the Council of Islamic Courts (ICU) and roughly 500 military personnel consisting of Eritrean military and fighters from the Ethiopian insurgent groups ONLF and OLF.
15 July 2006	A senior Eritrean military officer, Colonel Yusuf Negash Warque, conducts meetings with leaders of the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts including from both the Executive Committee and the Majlis Al Shura (Consultative Committee).
20 July 2006	An Airbus A-310-300, operated by Daallo Airlines, departed from Assab, Eritrea, destined for Somalia carrying B-10 anti-tank guns; heavy (large calibre) machine guns; PKM machine guns, with magazines and telescopic sighting devices; AK47 assault rifles; G3A3 assault rifles; Browning .30 calibre machine guns; 120mm mortars and rifle fired grenades.
21 July 2006	A second arms shipment, consisting primarily of a variety of ammunition, arrived in Somalia onboard an Airbus A310-300 – also operated by Daallo Airlines.
23 July 2006	A commercial aircraft departs from the UAE empty and flew to Eritrea where it picks up and delivers a shipment of arms for the ICU, including shoulder fired surface to air missiles and second generation, 50 units of infrared-guided anti-tank weapons; 100 units of RPG; 540 units of AK 47 assault rifles; 94 units of FAL assault rifles; 106 units PKM machine guns; unknown units of ZU-23 and DShK anti-aircraft

ammunition; foodstuffs, water supplies and medicines.
24 July 2006	An Eritrean aircraft transports to Mogadishu‘s Esaley Airport a senior Eritrean military officer and unspecified quantities of rockets and other anti-tank weapons.
26 July 2006	An Ilyushin aircraft (IL-76) carrying 10 senior Eritrean military officers departs from Assab, Eritrea and delivers assault rifles, hand grenades, mines, PKM machine guns, LAWs, surface to air missiles, multiple rocket launchers, different calibres anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns, military uniforms, machine gun belts (feeder belts) and medicines for the ICU at Mogadishu International airport.
27 July 2006	Some 500 ICU fighters are flown from Easley Airport, Mogadishu, to Eritrea for training on the use of the new types of rockets and surface to air missiles, 200 of these receives training in Eritrea in guerrilla warfare while 100 are sent to Libya and 200 to Syria.
28 July 2006	Two IL-76 cargo aircrafts leaves Eritrea and delivers shipments of anti-tank weapons; ZP-39 anti-aircraft guns with seats; 80 extra barrels for the ZP-39; boxes of ammunition for ZP-39; DShK heavy machine guns and boxes of ammunition; PKM and boxes of ammunition; AK 47 and boxes of ammunition; grenade launchers for the AK 47; mines; FAL assault rifles and boxes of ammunition; grenade launchers for the FAL assault rifle; SAR-80 assault rifles; anti-personnel mines; B-10 anti-tank guns and boxes of ammunition; and 60mm mortars and boxes of ammunition.
8 August 2006	An Eritrean military aircraft transports 300 fighters of the ICU from Mogadishu and Lower Shabelle Region to Eritrea for military training on the use of rockets and surface to air missiles and offloads shipments of AK47 assault rifles and PKM machine gun ammunition.
End August 2006,	A large military transport aircraft transports a shipment of arms from Eritrea including M-46 130mm towed field gun, D-30 122 towed howitzer, M-30 122mm towed howitzer, D-30 152mm , ZU 57-2-57mm , Zu-23-2, Shilka-4-23mm, Zu-23-4, different calibers of mortars, SA-6 ‗Gainful‘ Low to Medium Altitude surface to air missile, surface to air missiles PZRK Strela2M aka SA-7 ‗Grail‘, RPG-7.
8 October 2006	A B-707 aircraft takes off from Massawa, Eritrea to Mogadishu International Airport delivering generators, medicines, 2500 single person tents and 30 larger tents, 400 pieces of telecommunication equipment for vehicles, 1500 communications handsets and 10 sealed containers intended for the ICU military forces in Raskiambooni, Guriel, Mogadishu and Kismaayo.
10 October 2006	The B-707 aircraft transports unknown quantity of arms and representatives of an ICU military force returning to Somalia from military training.

Source: Selected Reports of the Monitoring Group and the Panel of Experts on Somalia Submitted Through the Security Council Committee Established Pursuant to Resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) Concerning Somalia 2006-2010, available at:http://www.un.org/sc/committees/751/mongroup.shtml.