MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Modern Turkish tanks transported through the streets of Mogadishu this week after being offloaded from a Turkish naval ship at the city’s port belong to Somalia’s army and were provided to modernize and strengthen its capabilities, a senior official said Sunday.
Mohamed Ahmed Diriye, Mogadishu’s deputy mayor for politics and security, known as Yaboh, hailed the arrival of the tanks as evidence of progress in the country’s efforts to build a strong and functioning national army.
The development follows reports by local outlets, including the Caasimada Online news website, that the tanks were moved to warehouses belonging to the Somali National Army and will be deployed in military operations by Somali security forces.
The shipment comes weeks after Somali officials – among them the defense minister, Ahmed Moalim Fiqi – asserted that several Turkish F-16 fighter jets brought to Mogadishu by Turkey to safeguard its interests had been provided to the Somali army. The minister later retracted that statement.
Since the collapse of Somalia’s central government in the early 1990s, the country has struggled to establish a cohesive and effective military, despite sustained international efforts to build forces capable of confronting a persistent Islamist insurgency.
The army, widely viewed as lacking professionalism and weakened by political infighting and clan rivalries, has not acquired heavy weaponry such as fighter jets and tanks since the fall of Siad Barre’s regime. A longstanding United Nations arms embargo on Somalia was lifted in late 2023, clearing the way for the acquisition of such equipment.
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