General Samora Muhammad Yunis

Abiy's message on the military front may have been more palatable especially since he pensioned off the abrasive Ethiopian armed forces chief of staff General Samora Muhammad Yunis who was widely disliked in Mogadishu (AC Vol 59 No 13 A proconsul retires)...

On 7 June Abiy named General Seare Mekonen the new Chief of Staff replacing General Samora Yunis who was in post for 17 years...

They also reaffirmed the weakening position of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front the formerly pre-eminent coalition member which has now lost the Agriculture Ministry and control of two security-related institutions – although not the powerful spy agency or the military which are still commanded by the former TPLF fighter General Samora Yunis...

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn would like to remove him but cannot our sources say in part because the security establishment backs him specifically the armed forces Chief of Staff General Samora Yunis...

TPLF veterans Getachew Assefa and General Samora Muhammad Yunis still run respectively the intelligence services and the military...

The head of the NISS is Getachew Assefa a member of the TPLF Politburo while the senior military command is heavily Tigrayan and General Samora Muhammad Yunis another TPLF guerrilla veteran is the Armed Forces Chief of Staff (AC Vol 56 No 8 Troubled road to liberalism & Vol 56 No 20 Amisom loses friends)...

Yet the Ethiopian National Defence Forces chief of staff General Samora Yunis is putting several conditions on his nomination some of which are unacceptable to other troop-contributing countries and the Somali government...

As head of the senior force Ethiopia's Chief of Staff General Samora Muhammad Yunis is reported as being haughty towards other commanders...

Samora Yunis are seen as highly competent indeed indispensable and are likely to remain in office...

Samora Yunis Army Chief of Staff...