Somali leaders have unanimously welcomed the decision by the United Nations Security Council to lift the final restrictions on weapons deliveries to Somalia’s government and its security forces on Friday.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, parliamentary speakers, and regional state leaders have expressed their appreciation for the removal of the 31-year arms embargo, highlighting the potential benefits for the government and its ongoing struggle against al-Shabab militants.
“Today, I want to tell the Somali people that all arms embargoes have been lifted,” declared the President. He emphasized that the country could now purchase weapons worldwide, and friendly nations could provide whatever weapons were requested.
Prime Minister Barre congratulated the Somali people on the historic move and its significance for rebuilding the security forces and ensuring national security. The decision also facilitates the government’s increased capacity to take over security responsibilities from AU forces ATMIS and in the fight against Kharijites.
The speakers of the lower and upper houses, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi and Sheikh Aden Madobe highlighted that lifting the embargo would play a significant role in liberating areas under al-Shabab control during ongoing operations. Madobe stressed that the government would equip the army forces in a modern way to fully eradicate the militants, thanking the United Nations Security Council for voting in favour of lifting the arms embargo on Somalia.
General Ibrahim Sheikh Muhyadin, the chief of Somalia’s army, renewed the Somali army’s commitment to intensify ongoing military operations across the country, stating that the arms embargo removal would increase the security forces’ dedication to liberating the country.
The council put the embargo on Somalia in 1992 to cut the flow of weapons to feuding warlords, who had ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and plunged the Horn of Africa country into civil war.
Two weeks ago, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that Somalia has one year to expel the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militant group from the country, with the deadline for remaining African Union peacekeepers to leave looming next December.
Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab has been waging a brutal insurgency against the Somali government since 2006 in a bid to establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
Mohamud’s recent efforts against al-Shabaab, starting in August last year, involved military collaboration with clan-based militias in central Somalia, resulting in significant territorial gains. However, al-Shabaab continues to stage deadly attacks against military and civilian targets.
