15 somali police officers complete training on IED detecting in Mogadishu

Hiiraan Online
Monday January 1, 2018

MOGADISHU,(HOL)-Fifteen Somali police officers on Monday completed a ten day training course on countering improvised explosive devices in Mogadishu.

The training which ended on Sunday was aimed at equipping SPF officers with vital skills on preventing, disposing and countering IED attacks by the Al-Shabaab militants.

IEDs have become Al-Shabaab’s weapon of choice in its asymmetrical warfare in Somalia’s major towns including the capital.
Inspector of Police (IP), Hassan Guhad Abdullahi who is an expert on the field said that the training was critical given that IEDs are currently the commonly used weapon by Al-Shabaab militants to cause death and destruction in the country.

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“They (trainees) learnt to identify opportunities that these perpetrators can use to infiltrate and carry out (IED) attacks, and therefore have a kind of preventive and proactive approach to seal those opportunities and deny the bad guys so that this does not happen,” Hassan from the Kenya Police Service highlighted.

He noted that officers were taken through a number of topics focusing on countering the use of IEDs and securing civilians.

“One of the main things they learnt is how to deny the bad guys the opportunity and also to degrade their capability to do so, based on intelligence,” IP Hassan explained.

Abdi Aden Ga’al, a SPF officer, described the training as timely, adding that it will help security personnel to effectively counter the use of IEDs.

“I have learned a lot of valuable things which will help me and my colleagues and the Somali Police Force. It (training) was very beneficial, with regard to my profession,” said Mr. Abdi, an officer attending the training.

During the 10-day training funded by the Japanese government through the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the officers carried out mock drills, on how to respond to various scenarios, related to an IED attack.

Since the defeat of Alshabaab, the militants used IEDs to attack against hotels, offices and military camps..

On Sunday, landmine burried on roadside hit one vehicle of AMISOM and SNA convoy near Somalia's Defense Ministry along industrial road in Mogadishu, killing one SNA soldier.

In October this year, over 500 people were killed and more than 600 other injured in a truck bombing in Mogadishu.

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