Numerous countries including Jordan, Qatar and Algeria, as well as the African Union, have rejected Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland, a breakaway region in Somalia.

Israel on Friday became the first country to recognize Somaliland since the territory claimed its independence from the eastern African country of Somalia in 1991. The country has been engulfed in a brutal civil war since then.

Somaliland is located on Somalia’s Gulf of Aden coast where the Bab el-Mandeb strait connects with the Red Sea, a highly strategic section of global maritime trade routes. It neighbours Djibouti, which houses the largest U.S. military base on the African continent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a joint declaration with Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullah “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” a series of agreements to create commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and Arab countries, AP reported.

Netanyahu is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday in Florida. On Friday the New York Post reported that Trump said he would not follow Israel’s lead in recognizing Somaliland’s independence.

The U.S. State Department on Saturday said it continued to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, “which includes the territory of Somaliland.”

Qatar called the declaration “a dangerous precedent and a unilateral action that contravenes the principles of international law.”

The African Union said it “firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognizing Somaliland as an independent entity” without mentioning Israel.

The European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic arm, also reacted to the news, saying in a statement Saturday that it “reaffirms the importance of respecting the unity, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity” of Somalia. It also called for “meaningful dialogue” between Somalia and Somaliland, according to the statement.