PRESS RELEASE
(For Immediate release)
ATMIS PR/13/2023
Mogadishu, 21 June 2023 – The Head of the African Union Transition Mission on Somalia (ATMIS) condemns the action by Al-Shabaab militants who targeted Somali National Army (SNA) and ATMIS Ethiopian military base in Bardhere, Gedo region in the Jubaland State of Somalia.
In the incident, two explosive-laden vehicles detonated at the military base targeting an ongoing recruitment of SNA troops to help in maintaining peace and security in Jubaland State as ATMIS troops begin to withdraw from Somalia.
The recruits once trained will form part of SNA to combat Al-Shabaab terrorists and take over from ATMIS as the mission transfers security responsibilities ahead of its exit next year, 2024.
The Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef said, “The recruitment is an effort to build the capacity of SNA to conduct offensives against the terrorists and create secure conditions for governance and development to take root. However, Al-Shabaab who are agents of destruction do not want to see Somalia prosper. We all need to coalesce and defeat these terrorists.”
Ambassador Souef pledged that ATMIS is committed to support the Federal Government of Somalia and the Federal Member States to build the capacity of the Somalia security forces to secure the country.
The Head of ATMIS also hailed the vigilance of the public and the action taken in arresting an Al-Shabaab suspect who was involved in carrying out a bomb attack on civilians on 20 June 2023, in Bariire town in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia.
On Tuesday afternoon, a twin suicide bomb attack in Bariire carried out by Al-Shabaab injured scores of civilians and SNA personnel. The arrested suspect is a motorcycle rider who transported the suicide bomber to the scene of the attack.
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For more information contact
Snr. Communications Officer Ms. Gifty Bingley
or Force Spokesperson Lt. Col. A. Ganale
Email: atmismediacenter@gmail.com
Cell phone: (Somalia) +252 617 682 175/+252 613 665 356; (Nairobi) +254 722 586005