The United States has donated more than 60 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Somali National Army to improve ongoing operations against the al-Shabaab armed group and for future training of an elite infantry unit, according to the US Embassy in Mogadishu.
According to a statement released by the embassy, the weapons arrived at Mogadishu International Airport on Wednesday aboard two US Air Force C-17 cargo planes, which were also received by the Somali Defense Minister and the Somali Chief of Defense Staff as charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Mogadishu, Tim Trinkle.
The weapons included “sixty-one tons of Kalashnikov assault rifles, heavy machine guns and ammunition,” according to the US statement.
“This military assistance will support the Somali National Army’s ongoing operations against Al-Shabaab in Galmadog and Jubbaland states, as well as the forthcoming Maqbool, the National Army’s Daneb Advanced Infantry Brigade, for which the recruitment process has already begun,” the communiqué said.
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The US State Department has also announced a new $5 million reward for information leading to the “identity or whereabouts” of Al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamed Rage.
Rage, also known as Ali Dheere, has been the group’s main spokesperson since 2009. The State Department said he had been involved in planning attacks by militant fighters in Kenya and Somalia.
The Somali National Army, working with several local clan militias, launched an offensive in central Somalia last year that managed to recapture many towns and villages formerly controlled by al-Shabaab, which they ran with their usual ruthless habit. Islamic law.
Analysts have warned that Somalia’s national and state governments must maintain security and provide economic aid to the retaken areas to prevent them from falling back under militant control.
The issue was raised this week when representatives from Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Washington to discuss Somalia’s security, state-building, humanitarian and development priorities.
