The Somali government has repeated its plea for world leaders to lift an international arms embargo, as the aid-dependent Horn of Africa nation continues to struggle with security threats from al-Shabab terrorist group.
Delivering his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire praised his country’s political and security development with the help of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM.
“In Somalia, we have made significant strides, in which we have weakened the capability of al-Shabab,” Khaire said.
The prime minister said his country needs a longstanding weapons embargo fully lifted so the national army can obtain heavy weapons to defeat al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group affiliated to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab is behind the suicide bombings and attacks on hotels and restaurants as well as military bases for African Union troops and the Somali National Army.
“To ensure the sustainability of such gains, we focused on strengthening the military capability of our national security forces, however, the arms embargo imposed against Somalia is a severe limitation towards this objective,” Khaire told the U.N. assembly.
He said his government is prepared to work with the world body and its partners toward “a roadmap” on lifting the arms embargo.
