20100604
africanews

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) announced that the mission is set to train 500 Somali police officers as parts of its peacemaking efforts in Somalia, where the government is battling with Islamist insurgents.

The announcement was made at a meeting between the consultative meeting of the African Union (AU) troops contributing countries to AMIOSM and international partners to Somalia held in Addis Ababa.

“Despite ongoing security challenges in Mogadishu, efforts are underway to strengthen the Somali Police Force,” said AMISOM.

AMISOM said that in June 2010, AMISOM police will deploy 15 trainers to Djibouti to train 500 Somali officers.

It also said that AMISOM recently deployed 34 police officers from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda into the mission area.

“In this respect, and in fulfilment of its mandate of training, mentoring, advising, monitoring, reforming and restructuring, AMISOM recently deployed 34 police officers,” AMISOM added.

In Mogadishu, AMISOM is currently training 50 Somali officers in various fields, including cordon and search, traffic, investigation and de-mining.

The European Union is training 400 Somali forces in Uganda as part of its support to Somali government battling Islamist insurgents. About 2,000 Somali troops are expected to be trained in western Uganda town of Bihanga.

Islamist insurgents run most of southern Somalia and government controls a few areas in the capital Mogadishu, where AU sent 5,000- strong peacekeepers. Western security agencies warned that Somalia is becoming a haven for international terrorists.