A contingent from Somali police officers are undergoing training on counter terrorsim operations back home.
The officers drawn from various units of Somali police force are in an elite school for the Turkish Army’s commando units in the western town of Foça.
The Somali officers were trained on how to handle terror threats in a six-week course coordinated by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) that provides development aid to Somalia and other African countries.
The training is part of a defense support between Government of Turkey and Federal Government of Somalia.
Accordimg to Anadolu Agency, 10 police officers have been trained by Turkish officers on how to check residential areas for terror threats and neutralize terrorists in those areas, on handling landmines and homemade explosive devices and how to respond to attacks.
They learned about types of explosives they may come across in counterterrorism operations and how to carry out counterterrorism raids.
Abdurrahman Abdullah Muhammad, a Somali police inspector attending the course, said it was a difficult training but “really efficient.”
“We saw Turkish hospitality here and learned things that would be beneficial for us back in Somalia. To be frank, it was a very challenging course for us and I remember losing my breath at times when putting what we learned into practice. There was no room for error and it was very realistic,” he said.
Somali officers will return back in the country to respond to the challenges posed by terror of the armed group al-shabaab.
