Horumar

26.10.2023: Mogadishu, Somalia

Written by Suldan Mohamed

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud met with EU leaders including the President of the European Union Council Charles Michel and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell on the side-lines of the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels this week.

The leaders discussed the fight against terrorism including Al-Shabab and the cooperation between the EU and Somalia to not just combat extremism in Somalia but also to support the state-building process and the development of socio-economic infrastructure according to a statement released by Villa Somalia.

Changing Security Dynamic

The President’s meetings with senior EU officials comes at a time where the African Union Transitional Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) draws to close by the end of 2024. In recent years, the EU has reduced funding for the AU mission citing a lack of transparency and results. The AU mission in Somalia began 2007 and while it has successful pushed Al-Shabab militants out of major cities in southern Somalia, it has failed to achieve any tangible results in recent years with no official operation conducted in four years.

With the clear absence of AU support, President Hassan Sheikh launched an ‘all out-war’ against Al-Shabab militants in 2022 which has seen a Somali-led effort to eradicate militants that has liberated dozens of towns despite the campaign being bogged down in recent weeks with allegations of incompetency amongst some ranks of the Somali Army (SNA) and intelligence agency following avoidable Al-Shabab ambushes that killed dozens of soldiers across central Somalia.

Seeking Support for Offensive

As the Somali Transitional Plan (STP) is under full swing with the Somali-led offensives in central Somalia, the President seeks to obtain direct financial and military support for the SNA as it continues its war against Al-Shabab. The Somali Army lacks funding and coupled with the UN Arms Embargo imposed since 1992, it has been unable to obtain heavy weaponry, transportation vehicles or adequate facilitates for troops stationed across the country.

To defeat Al-Shabab, the army must be obtain the necessary modern reconnaissance tools as well as effective air power to able to counter militant attacks, weed out militants hiding as well as cut off supplies lines to enable the encirclement of militants amongst other military strategies.

The president of Somalia is also scheduled to deliver a speech on many aspects at the forum.