Somalia, Eritrea set to establish diplomatic ties!

• After the fall of Barre in 1991, Somalia fell into chaos.

The presidents of Somalia and Eritrea on Monday signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties after over a decade of animosity, in the latest lightning rapprochement between Horn of Africa rivals.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed's three-day visit to Asmara coincides with an extraordinary peace process between Eritrea and Ethiopia - part of dizzying change in a region burdened by war, proxy conflicts, isolation and iron-fisted rule."The two countries will establish diplomatic relations and exchange ambassadors," read a "joint declaration on brotherly relations" signed in Asmara by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Mohamed.

The declaration came just three weeks after Ethiopia and Eritrea declared an end to two decades of conflict, rapidly restoring diplomatic ties and flights between their capitals.

The history of the three nations, and their fallouts, have been intertwined.

Somalia and Eritrea were once close. Under Siad Barre, the military regime in Mogagishu backed Eritrea's long fight for independence from Ethiopia, which was attained in 1993.

In 1998 Ethiopia and Eritrea began a bloody two-year war over their shared border which left 80,000 dead before settling into a bitter cold war. After the fall of Barre in 1991, Somalia fell into chaos.

By around 2006, it became the site of what observers called a proxy war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia backed a weak interim government in Mogadishu while Eritrea was accused of backing the militants fighting to overthrow it, a charge it denied.

The United Nations Security Council in 2009 imposed an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Eritrea for its alleged support of Al Shabaab militants.