Araweelo News Network

Djibouti(ANN)-Since January 2013, AMISOM has been training Somali police officers in Djibouti. They participate in training organized by the Police Component of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in collaboration with the Italian Carabinieri.

They receive specialized training in public order management, facilitated by AMISOM and the Italian Carabinieri with financial support from the Government of Italy and the European Union.

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The training of these police officers is expected to fill an important gap in the Somali police force after years of civil war and armed conflict. It was widely expected that these new police officers trained in Djibouti would help to improve the skills and capacity of the Somali police in dealing with criminals and armed insurgents in order to protect civilians and uphold the rule of law without the assistance of foreign third authorities.

However, it appears that these Djibouti-trained police officers are more prone to corruption. Somalia’s Minister of State for Internal Security believes that these police are closely linked to some of the leaders of the Djibouti regime.

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The Somali authority believes that these Djibouti-trained Somali police officers played an important role in the terrorist attack of August 16, 2020. In view of the existence of information incriminating Djibouti’s diplomatic representation in Mogadishu, the Somali police officers trained in Djibouti and stationed at the security checkpoints set up in the city of Mogadishu allegedly facilitated the movement of the two cars of the jihadists who attacked the Elite Hotel.

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An Interior Ministry official said: “These Djibouti-trained police officers are big consumers of Khat and with the payment of a few hundred dollars they can neglect their responsibility. I am sure they have also developed close relations with senior Al-shabab officials during their visits to Djibouti. It is therefore urgent to remove them from the security of the city of Mogadishu. »

In any case, suspicion of Djibouti’s diplomatic representation in Mogadishu has been growing since the terrorist attack of 16 August 2020 on the Elite Hotel, whose owner is the largest financial supporter of the opposition political parties.

By Hassan Cher