Alwaght- Somalia complained to the United Nations Security Council over the illegal construction of a United Arab Emirates (UAE) military base in breakaway region Somaliland.
Speaking at the Security Council on Tuesday, Abukar Osman, Somalia's ambassador to the UN, said the agreement between Somaliland and the UAE to establish the base in the port city of Berbera is a "clear violation of international law".
Osman also called on the Security Council to "take the necessary steps" to "put an end to these actions".
"The Federal Government of Somalia strongly condemns these blatant violations, and reaffirms that it will take the necessary measures deriving from its primary responsibility to defend the inviolability of the sovereignty and the unity of Somalia," he added.
The UAE began construction of the base last year, under an agreement with officials in Somaliland, a northern region of Somalia that self-declared independence from the latter in 1991 following a civil war.
Earlier this month, the UAE said it would train Somaliland security forces, including the police and the military, as part of the deal.
The UAE is simultaneously investing in developing the port itself, which is strategically located close to Yemen, where UAE troops have been fighting as part of a Saudi-led military coalition against Houthi rebels since 2015.
Somaliland is yet to receive any official recognition from a single foreign government in the years since it declared independence in 1991. To the outside world, it is an autonomous region of Somalia, subject to the Somali Federal Government.
The UAE is accused of exploiting instability in parts of Somalia to secure logistics projects in Somaliland. Commentators in Mogadishu also blame the UAE for having a hand in recent deadly terrorist attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.
