Ethiopia, Djibouti agree to scale up military cooperation

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Ethiopia and Djibouti have agreed to scale up their military cooperation for peace in the region, an official statement said on Friday.

The East African neighbors will boost military cooperation by creating more favorable platforms and mechanisms to share information and expertise as well as pursue joint training, said Ethiopia’s Embassy in Djibouti.

The move comes after Gen. Berhanu Jula, chief of staff of Ethiopia’s National Defense Force, met with his Djiboutian counterpart Gen. Zakaria Cheikh Ibrahim to discuss cooperation between the two neighbors’ defense forces.

The two sides also reiterated engagements and exemplary economic ties between the two countries.

The two generals also discussed collaboration to make the Ethiopia-Djibouti corridor a zone of peace. The corridor connects landlocked Ethiopia to world markets via access to the port of Djibouti.

Djibouti, a small strategic nation in the Horn of Africa, has a small standing army, while its neighbor, Ethiopia, has one of continent's largest and strongest armies.