AU Force Commander visits troops on the frontline in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Lt. Gen. Tigabu Yilma on Wednesday visited troops on the frontline in Dhobley town near the Somali-Kenyan border to check on their condition and operational plans.

The AMISOM Sector Two forces in Jubaland State are made up of soldiers from the Kenyan Defence Force. The AU Mission in Somalia has five sectors spread across the country where AMISOM forces work hand in hand with the Somalia National Army (SNA) to stabilize the country.

On arrival in Dhobley, Lt. Gen. Yilma was received by Sector 2 Commander, Brigadier General Dickson Ruto who briefed him on achievements recorded in line with AMISOM Concept of Operations (CONOPS), which guides the operations of the mission, and the Somalia Transition Plan, which outlines how AMISOM will gradually hand over security responsibility to the Somali Security Forces.

The Force Commander thanked the troops and their commanders for strongly holding the fort and praised them for their bravery and service to Somalia.

“I came to check on you and see for myself the good work that you are doing for AMISOM and for Somalia. The enemy is losing ground but we need to maintain the pressure in order to completely stabilize this country and hand it over to the Somalis. After we finish our job, history will remember us for our noble effort of bringing peace in Somalia,” Force Commander Yilma said.

Sector Two Commander Brig. Gen. Ruto thanked the Force Commander for the visit and assured him all was well with the troops under his command.

“I can say that within Sector Two, our troops have made significant contributions. If you want to measure our success, you can look at the number of businesses and the number of people that are in the towns specifically the movement of people and goods is an indication that life has returned to normalcy in Jubaland,” Brig. Gen. Ruto said.

Dhobley town is located approximately 729 km southwest of Mogadishu. It lies within an important route from Kismayo to the Kenyan border town of Liboi close to the Dadaab refugee camp inside Kenya and home to tens of thousands of Somalis refugees.

GAROWE ONLINE