U.S. advisers train troops for Somalia
IBANDA, 14 May 2012 (IRIN) - Over 600 Somali troops completed six months
of military training in southwestern Uganda on 10 May and are heading
home to boost the forces fighting Al Shabab. Col Winston Byaruhanga, head of Bihanga military training school in
Ibanda District, told IRIN the 603 soldiers who trained alongside 248
Ugandans will help bring peace and stability to the country. “These soldiers will significantly reinforce the Transitional Federal
Government (TFG) and contribute to more stable conditions to deliver aid
and bring the country on the way to development,” Byaruhanga told IRIN.
Mohammed Ali Hassan, who emerged as the best student, told IRIN. “We are
determined to go back and pacify our country from the Al Shabab. We are
now equipped and ready for the battle.” The training included urban warfare exercises, and covered such things as mine awareness, weapons, administration, health, and political education.
The soldiers are the third batch to be trained in Uganda under the European Union military mission to contribute to the training of Somali security forces (EUTM). By the end of 2012 around 3,000 Somali soldiers and officers will have received the EUTM training.
| In Pictures | |
 |
|
 |
 |
“You are the peace and hope to the people of Somalia. Don’t let your efforts go wasted but struggle to stabilize and make peace in Somalia,” said Gen Jeje Odongo, Uganda’s state minister for defence.
TFG controls mainly the capital, Mogadishu, and is now trying to expand the area under its control with the help of AMISOM troops. In February, the UN Security Council raised the pan-African peacekeeping force’s authorized troop levels from 12,000 to 17,731.
Aside from the EUTM programme, Kenya and Ethiopia have provided training and military support to militias allied to the TFG.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment