An Egyptian warship has delivered a second major cache of weaponry to Somalia including anti-aircraft guns and artillery, officials said, in a move likely to stoke further friction between the two countries and Ethiopia.
"A shipment of Egyptian military aid has arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu to support and build the capabilities of the Somali army," Egypt's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The shipment "reaffirms Egypt's ongoing central role in supporting Somali efforts to develop the national capabilities necessary to fulfil the aspirations of the Somali people for security, stability, and development," the ministry said in the statement.
Egypt delivered its first round of military aid to Somalia in more than four decades in August.
Ties between Egypt and Somalia have grown this year over their shared mistrust of Ethiopia, prompting Cairo to send several planeloads of arms to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, after the countries signed a joint security pact in August.
The Egyptian warship began unloading the weapons on Sunday, the Reuters news agency reported one diplomat as saying. Security forces blocked off the quayside and surrounding roads on Sunday and Monday as convoys carried the weapons to a Defence Ministry building and nearby military bases, two port workers and two military officials told Reuters.