Ethiopia trains Somali soldiers

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia has trained the first batch of Somalia soldiers, just a month after Addis Ababa dispatched several soldiers who are not attached to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] to assist in the second phase of operations against Al-Shabaab which are due to start in central Somalia.

State media notes that the first batch of Ethiopian-trained Somalia soldiers was released over the weekend and are expected to join their colleagues on the battlefield. This is the first time Ethiopia is training soldiers from Somalia as part of the Tripartite Agreement signed sometime back involving Addis Ababa, Mogadishu, and Asmara.

"A new batch of Somali National Armed Forces successfully completed military training in Ethiopia, on Saturday," state media reported without confirming the number of trainees who successfully completed training ahead of being dispatched to various parts of the country for the Al-Shabaab war.

Early this year, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud requested neighboring countries to help train and equip Somali National Army [SNA] ahead of the ATMIS exit which is likely to take place in December 2024. Already, ATMIS has agreed to scale down troops in Somalia starting this June.

Eritrea was the first African country to train over 5,000 soldiers and was due to take in 3,000 more in March with the first batch already assisting Somali National Army in tackling Al-Shabaab. In March, 3000 more soldiers graduated from Uganda which is also taking in Somalia soldiers for training in an event attended by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

The US Africa Command has been training elite Danab Special Forces with over 2000 already cleared to participate in sophisticated missions across the country. Turkey is also training Gorgor soldiers who also engage in special missions, especially in tackling Al-Shabaab in their perceived strongholds.

Somalia is battling the militants and Ethiopia has been a key ally since 2007, managing to kick out Al-Shabaab from the capital Mogadishu. Since then, the troops have been manning Sectors II and VI of ATMIS mainly in Jubaland and Southwest State, and have recorded considerable victories.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in 2022 for the second term after four years in cold, has declared "total war" against Al-Shabaab, with the first phase claiming over 3,000 militants according to the government. The second phase is set to kick off soon with local militia also taking part.

GAROWE ONLINE