The Mogadishu-based Somalia Prime Minister, Omer Abdirashid, and a delegation he headed including the minister for Defense, General Abdulkadir Sheikh Ali, met the US Under Secretary for Defense, Robert Work, and other-military related experts at the Pentagon on Tuesday.
It is said that the talks centered on shoring up the weak military capability of the AMISOM guarded Mogadishu administration to, ostensibly, combat Al Shabaab and prepare fort a day that the AU forces pull out altogether from Somalia.
According to a brief released by the US Department of Defense, Under Secretary Work ‘underscored the Defense Department’s strong commitment to supporting both the African Union Mission in Somalia and the development of Somali security forces’.
“The deputy secretary noted it is imperative that Somalia completes the state formation process in advance of holding elections next year, in line with the agreed timeline,” the statement said. “Progress on the political front is a necessary foundation for the development of Somali security forces.”
Another factor that was discussed at the meeting, sources said, was the implementation of a comprehensive ‘security’ plan that does noy only cover the training, equipment and support of the Somalia military forces but, also, the exchange of intelligence to cover a wide area that would not necessarily be confined to within the hypothetical jurisdiction of the Mogadishu administration.
On a similar token, the UAE started importing military hardware to the Somalia administration.
The Emirates gave a s sizeable assortment of vehicles, armament and motorcycles to, respectively, Puntland, Somalia and Jubaland – all of whom come under the umbrella of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).
The Emirates also started training and building training facilities for both of Puntland and Mogadishu.On June 10, 2015, the latest shipment arrived in Mogadishu in the guise of support to the Somalia police forces. On the same day, Puntland started shelling Somaliland military positions inside Somaliland in the area of Tuka Raq, Sool. Reliable sources indicate that Mogadishu and Jubaland handed down some of their recently acquired military arsenal to Garowe, inclusing some supplied by Italy.
It is widely believed that the alarming steps the US and the UAE have taken, following similar support some EU countries headed by Italy have given Somalia, is a prelude to new military dictatorships and fresh genocides such as that the Republic of Somaliland was born of following a protracted, bloody struggle against the military regime of Siyad Barre in the ’80s.
Find below pictures of the UAE-donated military. a.k.a., security hardware of June 10 in Mogadishu:
