MOGADISHU, Somalia – The head of the Intelligence Agency Mahad Salad, welcomed Saturday’s historic UN Security Council’s decision to remove an arms embargo on Somalia.
Salad said that the embargo has put a lot of weight on the rebuilding of the army and security forces, who are now dealing with Al-Qaeda’s ally, the Al-Shabaab group.
NISA also said that this decision has come at a time when the government is busy fighting ‘AS’ and rebuilding a strong enough army for the general security of the country.
The United Nations Security Council held a special meeting on the long-standing arms embargo on Somalia and last night the council voted to lift the embargo.
On the other hand, the National Security Advisor of President Hassan Sheikh, Hussein Moalim, welcomed the decision of the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions.
The council put the embargo on Somalia in 1992 to cut the flow of weapons to feuding warlords, who had ousted dictator Mohamed Siad Barre who ruled the country for 21 years.
Somalia is currently at an all-out war with Al-Shabaab, which wants to oust the UN-backed Somali government and expel the African Union [AU] troops from the country by force.
The United States voted in favor of the council resolution because the measures will help limit the influence of groups like al-Shabaab and address the drivers of conflict in Somalia.
