The Jigjiga trail: Saudi-funded Somali troops and the shadow of Sudan’s war

The detention of hundreds of Somali soldiers in Ethiopia’s Jigjiga points to a development far more consequential than an illegal border crossing. Behind the incident lies a broader Saudi-funded military programme training thousands of recruits in Somalia, with some graduates reportedly being prepared for deployment alongside the Sudanese army.

The detainees, whose numbers are estimated at between 180 and 900 soldiers, belong, according to information linked to the incident, to a batch of roughly 3,000 recruits who spent more than a year at the Hanano camp in Galmudug state, funded by Saudi Arabia.

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