WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department issued a warning Thursday calling on Eritrea to stop supporting militant actors destabilizing Somalia's capital.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a news release that the escalating violence in Mogadishu, Somalia, which has resulted in several civilian deaths, is being encouraged by Eritrea.
Militants have been targeting members of the Transitional Federal Government, adding to an already volatile situation in the Horn of Africa country. Critics have called the failed state in Somalia the root cause of a growing piracy problem off the country's coast.
According to the release, the support from Eritrea is "fanning the flames of violence in Somalia" and potentially promoting "further acts of terrorism."
"Eritrea's support for anti-government forces in Somalia is a serious obstacle to the possibility of a more normal relationship with the United States," Kelly said in the release.
