The Somali government has sent thousands of military recruits to neighboring countries for training to strengthen the army in its war against al-Shabaab militants, according to the national security adviser to the Somali president.
In an exclusive interview with VOA Somali on January 26, Hussein Sheikh Ali said that Somalia has sent 3,000 soldiers to both Eritrea and Uganda in the past few weeks. He said an additional 6,000 recruits would be sent to Ethiopia and Egypt.
“We want to complete the preparation of 15,000 soldiers by 2023,” Ali told Voice of America in a one-on-one interview in Washington, where he met with US officials to search for more support for Somalia, which it needs in the war on terrorism.
The news comes as a report by the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Political Studies raised doubts that the government will meet a December 2024 deadline to have 24,000 troops ready to take over security responsibilities when troops from the African Transitional Mission in Somalia (TAAM) are in Somalia. (ATMIS) due to leave.
“This timeline is ambitious because it is unlikely that the Somali security services will be fully independent by then, nor is it likely that Al-Shabaab will have been militarily defeated,” the report stated. "The deadline and the fact that the army is at war while it is being rebuilt at the same time...we say this deadline is tight," said Aviary Elmi, HIPS executive director and co-author of the report. "It will be difficult to meet."
The report noted that in November, the Somali government asked ATMIS to delay the withdrawal of 2,000 soldiers for the first time by six months, from December 2022 to June 30, 2023. Ali said the delay was required because the forces Somalia expects to receive from ATMIS are training abroad. He also said that the government does not want to disrupt military operations against Al-Shabaab in central Somalia, as Somali forces will have to control the areas that ATMIS forces will evacuate.
The Somali government recently took back most of the 5,000 soldiers who were trained in Eritrea. Ali defended the decision to send more recruits there, describing the plan as "transparent". He said the government is ahead of its training schedule. He said the government would send 24,000 fully trained and equipped soldiers by next year.
"There is no reason for ATMIS to remain or continue in Somalia," he added. Ali also predicted that the government would defeat the armed group by next summer. "Our primary goal is that in the summer of 2024, before June or July, there will not be any Al-Shabaab occupying territory in Somalia," he said. You can see it.”
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