US donates $1.5 mln for Somalia’s police force rebuilding
MOGADISHUSaturday, August 8, 2015- The United States government has donated $1.5 million to help efforts to rebuild Somalia’s police force to maintain security for the horn of Africa nation which is facing a stubborn deadly insurgency by the Al-Qaeda linked group of Al-Shabab.
The donation would help Somali police to receive trainings and material aid in a bid to fight crimes and terrorism as Somalia is recovering from decades civil war.
The United States envoy to Somalia James P. McAnulty who signed the donation package from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Somalia’s finance minister Mohamed Aden Ibrahim in Mogadishu on Saturday said that the contribution signals the US government’s commitment in helping the rebuilding of Somali security forces.
The agreement, the second of its kind is pars of US efforts to fight militant groups, mainly Al-Shabab which is trying to oust the western-backed Somali government which is under the protection of the African Union forces.
Somalia’s police chief Gen. Mohamed Hassan Hamud described the agreement as ‘helpful; which he said would help police to improve its performances.
In 2014, The Somali and U.S. governments reached an agreement in Washington, stipulating that the United States would contribute $1.9 million toward security sector reform, development and capacity-building efforts in Somalia.
As parts of the new army overhaul, Somalia’s government has also signed a bilateral treaty with the Turkish government this year to ramp up the rebuilding of Somali police.
Mogadishu has experienced a relative stability since 2011 when Al-shabab fighters were pushed out of the city with an estimated population of 2.5 million.
African Union and Somali troops have since extended their areas of control, ousting militants from most of its key strongholds in the south and central Somalia, however, the rebels continue to carry out sporadic attacks on the government and African Union forces in Somalia