Hiiraan Online
Monday February 5, 2018
Federal Member State Regional Presidents during the Somalia Security Conference on December 4th, 2017 in Mogadishu
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somali leaders at the federal and regional level are expected to hold a High-Level forum on security, which is scheduled to begin on Monday in Somalia's capital.
The conference which will be chaired Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi convenes leaders from the Federal Member States of Somalia and the Benadir Regional Administration.
The security forum will focus on the progress made by federal and state governments and Benadir region.
Some of regional states leaders arrived in Mogadishu. Jubbaland and Southwest presidents are expected to arrive in the capital today. Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali 'Gaas' has arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday for the two-day event.
The forum comes barely hours after an overnight explosion occurred in the Daynile District of Mogadishu which killed two people.
It is reported that an explosive device went off while being assembled, killing the two men who are suspected to have been wiring the bomb and killing another woman.
Somalia has promised to make security sector reform a priority since the political agreements reached in the National Security Architecture in April 2017, and the Security Pact at the London Conference on Somalia in May 2017.
A similar meeting held on December 4th concluded with the participants agreeing that three priorities of "immediate action" were
1.Implementation of the National Security Architecture;
2.Urgent development of realistic conditions -based transition plan with clear target dates to transfer security responsibility from AMISOM to Somali security forces; the completion and implementation of which will be essential to enable sustainable and predictable financing for AMISOM. This plan must be guided by the rule of law, respect for human rights and should include countering violent extremism, stabilization and governance.
3.Continued international support to build the capacity of Somali security forces and institutions targeted in line with needs emerging from progress on the above priorities.
The plan also calls for checks to the distribution of forces among the regional states and the integration of forces into Somali army. Puntland recently announced the integration of 2,400 Puntland Troops into the SNA.
Somalia still faces the threat from Al-Shabaab militants who continue to hold large swathes of land in the south and central Somalia; using it as a base from which to launch attacks against civilian and government installations.