The United States donated weapons and ammunition to the Somali National Army (SNA) on Tuesday, February 28 with the attendance of U.S. Embassy Mogadishu Chargé d’Affaires Tim Trinkle, Minister of Defense Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Jama, and Chief of Defense Forces Brigadier General Odowaa Yusuf Rageh.
Sixty-one tons of AK-47s, heavy machine guns, and ammunition arrived off two U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport..
This military assistance will support the current SNA operations against al-Shabab in Galmadug and Jubaland States and the next intake of the SNA Danab Advanced Infantry Brigrade, for which the recruitment process has already started.
“We are very proud to stand as partners with the Somali National Army and the Somali people in this fight. This ammunition will be provided to the SNA Danab, which is one of the many courageous forces fighting al-Shabaab,†said Chargé d’Affaires Tim Trinkle.
The military donation represents the high priority placed on the U.S. partnership with Somalia.
The weapons are marked and registered pursuant to the Federal Government of Somalia’s Weapons and Ammunition Management policy, designed to account for and control weapons within the Somali security forces and weapons captured on the battlefield.
Notification to the UN Security Council is conducted by the Federal Government of Somalia in close coordination with the Office of Security Cooperation of U.S. Embassy Mogadishu inaccordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
