The State Department announced today that the United States had begun flying weapons and military equipment into Somalia to help that nation repel Ethiopian attacks across the border. No details were given, but Defense Department officials noted that Somalia had ordered air defense radar and antiaircraft weapons such as the Vulcan, which shoots rapidly at low-flying aircraft. A State Department spokesman, Rush Taylor, noting an announcement of the airlift by the Somali radio, said in a statement: ''I can confirm that the United States is airlifting military equipment to Somalia. This is in connection with the recent incursion by Ethiopians and Ethiopian-supported forces.'' As far as could be determined, the weapons and equipment were drawn from a $20 million foreign military sales credit under a security assistance agreement negotiated when Somalia granted the United States access to military bases there in 1980. A radio broadcast from Mogadishu, the Somali capital, said ''the Somali people are grateful for this appropriate response of arms needed to meet Ethiopian aggression,'' according to news dispatches from the region.The President of Somalia, Mohamed Siad Barre, was also quoted as saying he had received a message from President Reagan expressing the ''hope that we will strengthen our cordial relations in the future.'' The Somali President was in Washington in March seeking an increase in military aid. The talks with President Reagan were said to have gone well, but no new agreements were reported. The Administration, however, has begun to emphasize military assistance to friendly governments to counter the expansion of Soviet military power. In this case, that policy has come into effect immediately because the Soviet Union, according to Defense Department intelligence, has 2,400 advisers in Ethiopia, while Cuba has 5,900 advisers and East Germany 550. The United States ground forces most recently in Somalia were engineering and medical units taking part in an exercise in November. Mechanized infantry units were sent into Egypt, Special Forces to the Sudan, and the marines to Oman in the same maneuvers.
Military assistance to Somalia, which began last year, has always been in dispute in Congress. Advocates have contended that such aid should be extended because that nation is strategically situated on the Horn of Africa with bases that would be useful to the United States Rapid Deployment Force if it had to defend Western oil sources around the Persian Gulf. Opponents have contended that the assistance should be denied because the Somali Government is autocratic and oppressive. A Defense Department publication says the security assistance is related to the agreement giving the United States access to Somali naval and air bases. It says, ''Such assistance will be limited to defensive materials and related training.'' The publication also says transportation, engineering and communications equipment, along with air defense, are Somalia's biggest military needs. ''There are no plans to provide Somalia with offensive equipment, suitable for use outside of Somali borders,'' it says.
Somalia split with the Soviet Union in 1977 when the Russians began supplying Ethiopia with arms and advisers. Ethiopia and Somalia have fought for several years, particularly over the Ogaden area, which is now controlled by Ethiopia but is populated largely by ethnic Somalis. The most recent flareup, according to dispatches from Somalia, started this month when Ethiopian troops and aircraft attacked Somalia on two fronts. Reports from the area said about 9,000 Ethiopian soldiers were involved. The aircraft were said to be Soviet-built MIG's.
Source: New York Times
