Mogadishu (SD) – Somalia’s Minister of Information Osman Abukar Dubbe spoke for the first time in detail about the situation of Somali troops who went to Eritrea for training, following a UN report saying that they were involved in the Ethiopian war.

Dubbe ruled out the possibility of Somali troops taking part in the Tigray conflict, and confirmed that the soldiers, who had been trained in Eritrea, would return home soon.

“The troops are healthy and they are coming back soon. Military training is a national secret, and politicians around the world do not talk about military training.: said Dubbe at a press conference in Mogadishu.

He also said that the UN report that Somali soldiers were being taken from their training camps in Eretria and sent to the battlefields in Tigray was false, according to the minister.

“A United Nations report was lifted from our politicians’ Facebook accounts and their evidence was hearsay” he said, adding that the federal government had denied the allegations.

The comments come as opposition politicians have recently criticized the federal government for failing to respond to the United Nations report indicating Somali troops training in Eritrea are involved in the Tigray conflict.

Somali parents whose youths are missing also staged a protest rally in Mogadishu today, demanding the return of their children.