TFG Needs More Recruits to Hold South

[Liqaye]

TFG Needs More Recruits to Hold South

700 Recruits Being Trained, But Not Enough to Defeat Militants

By MOHAMED YUSUF 05/24/2011

 

©Somalia Report

 

New TFG Recruits

Somalia's national army requires more forces in southern Somalia to hold the areas they captured from al-Shabaab militants, according to Somalia's deputy defense minister and the military and political coordinator for southern regions, Abdirashid Hidig.

 

Hidig, who was appointed two months ago to lead the military offensive in southern Somalia, told Somalia Report they don’t have enough soldiers to hold to the towns they have recently captured and that has hampered effort to move forward to crush al-Shabaab.

 

"We don’t have a large force that can cover the whole of southern Somalia. It’s a large area and an al-Shabaab stronghold,” he said. “For example, if we want to use the forces who are here in Dhobley to capture another town, then it means all the soldiers will have to move from this town and we won’t have any soldiers left here.”

 

“Our forces are have high morale, and we are doing well so far against our enemy but we need to recruit and train more so that we can capture the whole of southern Somalia.”

 

 

In southern Somalia’s southern town of Dhobley, 15km from the Kenya-Somali border, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is training seven hundred new recruits.

 

Ahmed Odoway, a 20 year old from Kismayo, signed up for a six-month training course that he believes will lead to a well paying job in the Somali national army.

 

Odowey told Somalia Report he heard about the recruitment drive from people who fled towns that experienced fighting between the government forces and al-shabaab.

 

“I was a charcoal vendor and it reached a point that I was not making any profit. We were heavily taxed and my family depends on me, therefore, I decided to train as soldier to make ends meet and made my way to Dhobley," Odowey said.

 

For hundreds of young men in Somalia, including Odowey, the training opportunity is a chance to turn their lives around after decades of warfare and poverty.

 

Odowey says he was happy in the training camp and will work hard to finish his training to liberate the country from the Islamist insurgency.

 

Mohamed Salat, a 23 year old from Sakow, Middle Juba who signed up a month ago, told Somalia Report that he was just like any other Somali young man without education. "I loved always wanted to get an education and I waited for a long time for the opportunity to arise but none has come. The only option to survive in this our country is to carry a gun and this is the opportunity that knocked at my door," he explained.

 

Colonel Abdirizak Jamaa, one of the trainers, said they train this young men how to operate weapons and understand warfare tactics.

 

“We are more than ten experience trainers. These young men have high morale and they want to fight for the country,” he said. “They are doing well in their training we haven’t yet had any difficulties with these new recruits. If training continues this way, then the sharp ones can complete their training three months instead of six.”

 

 

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