Following street protests in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia by mothers of army trainees supposedly in Eritrea, as well as criticism from other entities, Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has created a panel to investigate the claims.

News reports had said the trainees were deployed in Ethiopia before joining Ethiopian and Eritrean forces accused of committing crimes in the historic town of Axum.

The committee will be chaired by defence minister Hassan Hussein Haji and its members will include the interior minister, Somalia’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the commander of Somalia’s army.

A coalition of opposition groups led by former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on June 14, welcomed PM Roble’s appointment of the committee.

But some opposition politicians expressed reservations, arguing that the panel includes ministers from the accused government and suggesting that they cannot be trusted to produce an impartial report.