Somali Prime Minister addresses soldiers at military training camp in Kismay

Thursday, 17 April 2014 Somali Prime Minister addresses soldiers at military training camp in Kismayo The Prime Minister of the Somali Federal Government His Excellency Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed toured a military training camp in Kismayo on Wednesday April 16th where new recruits of the Interim Jubba Administration are in training and offered them words of encouragement and wisdom. The encamped forces are in training to promote peace and security in the three Jubba regions and take part in operations to rid the area of terrorists. Cabinet members, parliament representatives, ambassadors, and officials from the Interim Jubba Administration and AMISOM accompanied the Prime Minister on his tour of the military training camp. After training, the soldiers, who are currently receiving instruction from both Somali and AMISOM officers, will join various divisions of the Jubba Administration’s armed forces. In the briefing received by the Prime Minister and his delegation, officials from the Jubba Administration said the soldiers are receiving a variety of training and are preparing to take part in the country’s defense. Some of the recruits have also been sent to neighboring countries for training. H.E. Prime Minister Ahmed thanked AMISOM and Somali instructors for their service and urged the training soldiers to work for the public good while at the same time protecting human rights. “You have to defend the lives, property and honour of the public and protect the country from its enemies, starting with our primary enemy al-Shabaab. However, as you are fighting al-Shabaab, you will also have to carefully separate the terrorists from the innocent citizens so that you do not infringe upon their rights,” Prime Minister Ahmed told the soldiers. Furthermore, the Prime Minister told the troops the Somali Federal Government is preparing to equip the troops so that they can adequately perform their duties, and is currently formulating a plan, in consultation with senior security officials, to distribute these soldiers among the different divisions of the armed forces. “My government will strive to support you in your work so that you can safeguard the security of Jubba and the rest of Somalia. We will integrate you into the different sections of the armed forces such as the Somali National Army, police, corrections and intelligence,” the Prime Minister said in his address to the training officers. “Soldiers from the Somali National Armed Forces have the same goal whichever region they are based, and that is to liberate the country from its enemy and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia. You are required to stay committed to that goal,” Prime Minister Ahmed said in his concluding remarks. --END--