Egypt plans to deploy troops to Somalia under a bilateral agreement before transferring about 1,000 personnel to the African Union (AU) mission, even as the continental body remains mum on how the two forces will coordinate operations.
The silence comes as Somalia battles militant group Al-Shabaab, the AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (Aussom) struggles with funding and operational constraints and Egypt and Ethiopia remain locked in a strategic rivalry over Nile waters and access to the Red Sea.
