Ethiopia apologises for publishing map which erased Somalia

Ethiopia's foreign affairs ministry has apologised for posting a map of Africa that erased neighboring Somalia on its website.

Spokesman Nebiat Getachew said in a statement on Tuesday that an investigation had begun into how the map was posted on the ministry's website over the weekend.

He said the map was removed immediately after it was noticed and that "we have sincerely regretted any confusion and misunderstanding this incident might have caused."

The inaccurate map incorporated all of Somalia into Ethiopia but showed Somalia's breakaway state of Somaliland as a separate entity.

The relationship between Somalia and Ethiopia has been historically shaky but relations appear to have improved in recent months after reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed took office in Ethiopia in April of last year.

In the 1960s and 70s Somalia and Ethiopia fought two wars over the Somali-majority region of Ogaden in eastern Ethiopia. Prime Minister Abiy’s government signed a peace deal with local rebels in Ogaden in 2018.

In 2006, Ethiopian troops intervened in Somalia against the Islamic Courts Union, which had taken power in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops remain in Somalia today as part of an African Union force fighting the Islamist militant al-Shabab group.

Some Somalis hit back on Twitter with maps showing Ethiopia as part of Somalia.

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