Ethiopia Insight published on 10 September 2026 an article titled "Somalia's Saudi-backed Troop Incursion Raises Regional Stakes" by Muktar Ismail.
Undetermined numbers of Saudi-trained Somali soldiers recently crossed the porous border into Ethiopia's Somali Region for reasons that are equally unclear. Somali Region's Liyu Police detained some of the soldiers.
Neither Somalia nor Saudi Arabia has confirmed the military training program. The reasons for the border crossing may be benign, but the event has led to several conspiracy theories.
