Friday April 14, 2023
Somali recruits during their specialized training in Belgrade, Serbia. PHOTO - Somali Embassy in Serbia
Mogadishu (HOL) - A group of 60 Somali special security officers is set to arrive in Mogadishu on Friday after completing an intensive four-month training program at the Marshal Josip Broz Tito Special Forces Training School in Belgrade, Serbia. The program aims to strengthen the security and protection of Somali political leaders, including the President, as well as visiting foreign dignitaries, amid ongoing efforts to stabilize the country and combat terrorism.
The officers participated in a comprehensive curriculum that included formal classroom education, physical fitness, firearms handling, driving, intelligence gathering, and real-world simulations. They trained for nine hours a day, seven days a week, from January 12 to April 12, in "Zero-Fail Mission" scenarios. This marks the first time a European nation has provided training to Somali recruits on its own soil, reflecting the growing international cooperation to support Somalia's security infrastructure.
Somalia's Minister of Internal Security, Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh Ali (Dodishe), expressed gratitude to the Serbian government for their support and assistance, emphasizing the importance of security for heads of state, particularly in a region plagued by instability and extremist groups such as Al-Shabaab. The closing ceremony was attended by Serbian Minister of Interior and Security Bratislav Gasić, Somali Ambassador to Serbia Mohamed Abdullahi Ahmed, and senior Serbian officers from the special forces academy.
Bratislav Gasić reaffirmed Serbia's commitment to enhancing the training of Somali forces to improve the quality of protection for Somali leaders. Earlier this week, Minister Dodishe
met with Serbian defence experts in Belgrade to discuss further strengthening and training of Somalia's security personnel, as well as potential future collaborations in the areas of defence and security.