Somalia Defense Ministry has confirmed the Presence of US military Advisers in the country days after a spokesman from the U.S. Africa Command revealed that they deployed a small number of trainers and advisers to the war-torn state.
In an Interview with the American based media VOA, Somali Defence Minister Mr Abdihakim Fiqi stressed that the troops arrived in October last year and are there to assist the Somali army and African union troops to restore peace and Security in the country.
The number of the Military team from the US are five soldiers as he said the minister and ‘’the Somali government would welcome for any further deployment in order to bolster the peace process’’.
It’s the first time American troops are on Somali soil since October 1993, when two helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans killed in the “Black Hawk Down” disaster.
An Official from the radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab threatened that they will fight against the American Military based in Mogadishu Airport with their allies, and ”we will attack them in everywhere they are”.
In recent years, the US has spent over US$500 million to train and arm an African Union security force (AMISOM) of over 18,000 soldiers amid ongoing chaos and famine in Somalia. Most of the forces are trained outside Somalia by US contractors and uniformed military advisers. The US has also spent around $170 million to boost the often-ineffective Somali national army.
Ayub Abdirahman
Horseed Media
