Saturday, April 05, 2014

SOMALIA: 20 German Special Forces to Operate in Somalia
Somalia resistance movement Al-Shabaab is the focus of the US-NATO war in the Horn of Africa.
Posted on April 5, 2014
Mogadishu (RBC)

Germany will send 20 special forces to operate in Somalia capital, Mogadishu with the approval of the Federal Parliament of Germany, according to the media reports.

On Friday, legislators of Germany approved the dispatch of 20 military instructors to Somalia on a training mission mandated by the European Union, to train and advise Somalia government forces in the fight against Al Shabab, which is a militant group linked to Al Qaeda.

The move was described as part of the EU’s training mission in Somalia which has been relocated from Uganda to Somalia early 2014.

Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, have been training Somali soldiers since 2010, but up until now the training has taken place not in Somalia, according to Germany’s DW.

The German contingent will be deployed and operate inside the heavily protected Halane camp of the African Union Forces’ base near the Mogadishu Airport.

The European Union said, so far 3600 Somali army personnel have taken part in its training mission in Somalia since 2010.  The mission’s base is now in Mogadishu.

The U.S also said it has deployed special forces to train and advise Somalia army in Mogadishu, despite international media reported the presence of CIA personnel and its secret prison in Mogadishu.

RBC Radio

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