US to establish a base in Southwest state to support Somali forces

The US forces in Somalia are closely working with Somali National Army to establish a support base in the Bay region of Southwest state to boost Somali forces offensive against armed group al Shabaab.

The commander of the Somali National Army 60th battalion, General Mohamed Sheikh Abdullahi has confirmed the engagement between the two sides during a media briefing in Baidoa the administrative capital of Southwest state on Wednesday.

General Mohamed said US military officials are ready to provide training to the Somali army 60th battalion in order to boost their capacity in the battlefield against the terror group.

“We held talks with US security officials in Belidogle and Mogadishu and discussed ways to strengthen our cooperation by establishing a base to train our forces in Baidoa,” said General Mohamed.

The confirmation comes two weeks after US military officials visited Baidoa where they met regional officials led by the speaker of the assembly Ali Saed Faqi and discussed boosting security cooperation.

Pentagon already provides training to Somali special forces Danab apart from air support on the fight against the armed group which has been very helpful to the Somali army.