As part of its efforts to create a fully functional government, Somalia is preparing for a full-court press against the terrorist groups such as the powerful Al Shabaab and other al-Qaeda affiliates operating within that impoverished and war-torn African nation.
The Somali government announced on Monday that it opened a police training academy in nearby Djibouti. The new facility will accommodate 500 police officers, according to a report obtained by the U.S. National Association of Chiefs of Police.
Speaking during the opening of the training academy, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Somalia' leader, told the police trainees to use this chance to become more effective and learn their lessons properly, saying that its suffering people are waiting for them to dispense justice.
During the opening ceremony, Ahmed urged the international community to help Somalia to cease being a haven for terrorists, pirates and organized groups of bandits.
The president of host country Djibouti, Isma’il Omar Gelle, offered advice to the Somali police cadets. “You must work for your nation, you must also be real nationalists for defending your country,” Gelle said.
Ambassador August Mahiga, the United Nations' representative to Somalia, was among the diplomats invited to the ceremony. Mahiga told the cadets that the world is prepared to assist Somalia' transitional federal government bring peace to the beleaguered nation.
Western nations such as members of the European Union already offered military trainers and millions of dollars in an attempt to set up strong police and military forces for Somalia with the ability of assuring peace and stability in that country. For example, Japan promised at least $10 million for the Somali police training program.
The current crop of police recruits will be part of thousands of Somali government forces who are said to be prepared to take on Al Shabaab militants who control large territories in south-central Somalia, according to a government official during a press conference for the foreign news media.
Thousands of members of the Somali military who had been trained in neighboring Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda and France are now in Somalia, but have still failed to bring peace to capital city of Mogadishu, let alone the whole country.
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