Somali FM asks UN to lift the arms embargo

[Deeq A.]

MOGADISHU (Caasimada Online)– Somalia Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad Isse has asked UN Security Council to lift the army embargo on his country, amid rising deadly attacks by Al Shabaab.

Somali FM addressing at the annual debate of 73rd UN General Assembly has called on the UN to lift the arms embargo on Somalia to eradicate Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab.

“This embargo has been long-standing; it is what is leveling the field in our battle with the terrorist groups”, he said.

He added: “When our force has the same fighting arsenal as the enemy, the odds are split. Stronger fighting capacity would enable us to have the upper hand, it would entirely dismantle the terrorists, and possibly within a shorter time”.

He says his country Somalia has made huge strides in political and economic transformation, the country continues to grapple with terrorism.

Somalia dismantled terrorist networks and hideouts and is simultaneously engaged with religious leaders, community elders, women, youth and the civil society, he said.

The Islamist group was ousted from the capital, Mogadishu, in August 2011, but still has a presence in large areas of southern Somalia and often stages attacks across Somalia.

Somalia has remained in the grip of on-again, off-again violence since the outbreak of civil war in 1991.

Al-Shabaab, which is waging an insurgency against the Somali government, has recently suffered several significant blows, losing most of its strongholds in southern and central to Somalia army and and African Union troops.

Caasimada Online
Mogadishu News Desk
Caasimada@live.com