Bander Siyaada [Qaw]: Puntland Anti Piracy force takes shape..

[General Duke]

Somalia’s Puntland Wraps Up Training For Naval Forces

 

Abdi Hajji Hussein - AHN News Correspondent

Bosaso, Puntland, Somalia (AHN) - The semi-autonomous region of Somalia’s Puntland state on Monday wrapped up training 154 members of its naval forces.

 

A ceremony marking the conclusion of three months of training for Puntland marines was attended by top officials from the semi-autonomous administration was held Monday in Puntland’s commercial town of Bosaso.

 

Puntland’s vice president, Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, spoke at the ceremony, thanking Puntland and foreign officials who did their best to create functional and useful naval forces to fight against pirates in the Gulf of Aden and illegal immigration off Puntland's coast.

 

Shire said the main purpose of the training was to coalesce and create maritime forces with the ability to control Puntland coasts.

 

Refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia, who have died in the sea between Somalia and Yemen, are countless. Illegal migrants pour into Puntland to start dangerous travel from the Somali coast to Yemen and then Saudi Arabia with the aim of getting a better life than they had in Somalia or Ethiopia.

 

Somali pirates have numerous bases off Somalia coasts including Puntland territories. Sea gangs still hold hundreds of people taken captive as the pirates have seized 26 foreign vessels

 

Reliable sources attested that coaches from South Africa were involved in the training.

 

These maritime forces are the first whose training was completed inside Puntland soil.

 

On Sunday, a number of Puntland naval forces were taken to neighboring Djibouti for training.

[General Duke]

Somalia: First batch of 170 Puntland marines complete naval training

30 Nov 30, 2010 - 10:28:34 AM

 

Authorities in Somalia's stable region of Puntland say naval training has completed for the first batch of soldiers who will form the first-ever Puntland Marine Force, Radio Garowe reports.

 

 

Puntland officials at ceremony in Bossaso [Monday]

Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire, Puntland's vice president and currently the Acting President, attended the ceremony near Bossaso, a bustling Gulf of Aden port city that is Puntland's commercial hub.

 

Other Puntland officials present at the closing ceremony including Security Minister Gen. Yusuf Ahmed Kheir, Ports Minister Said Mohamed Rage, as well as senior security officials.

 

 

Puntland marines marching in Bossaso [Monday]

Puntland officials say the first batch of soldiers who completed training are 170-strong in number. The soldiers marched and saluted the Vice President of Puntland, Gen. Shire.

 

When complete, the Puntland Marine Force will consist of 1,050 soldiers who will have the main duty of protecting Puntland's shores from pirates and illegal fishers, according to local officials.

 

Puntland, located strategically along Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean waters, became a major base of pirate operations in 2007. But a Puntland government crackdown over the past two years has led to the arrests of more than 350 pirates and the explusion of pirate gangs from some of Puntland's coastal towns.

 

Puntland's government, which has its own security forces and manages its own affairs, says it supports the establishment of a federal government for Somalia.

 

Last month, Puntland announced it signed an agreement with a maritime training company named Saracen International, which is conducting the current training program for Puntland marines in Bossaso.

[General Duke]

Michael Shanklin, who was the CIA's deputy chief of station in Mogadishu 20 years ago, told AP he is employed by the unidentified donor country as a security adviser and liaison to the Somali government. Prosper said he is encouraging the Muslim donor nation, which insists on keeping its identity secret, to become more transparent.

 

The new force will be equipped with

120 new pickup trucks - which have already arrived - and six small aircraft for patrolling the coast, Farole said. No other force in Somalia

, including the Mogadishu-based central government or African Union peacekeepers, has air assets.

 

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

[Fiqikhayre]

Puntland is moving forward in greater strides to the dismay of its enemies. The great state is coming out of age and developing its capabilities as a regional power, which is good news for the whole of what used to be Somalia.

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Welcome back Duke. Great progress indeed.

[General Duke]

Thank you brother and yes this is a good development.

[General Duke]

GAROWE ONLINE EDITORIAL | Those same jokers say Garowe Online opinion represents Puntland government opinion.

 

What did they say? U.N. Security Council arms embargo?

 

The joke of the century! Any logical mind will refuse such a grand lie. U.N. power is limited to coffee shops inside New York City where the world's rich and powerful rub shoulders.

 

Those same jokers say Garowe Online opinion represents Puntland government opinion. So what you're effectively saying is, despite the years of hard work, investment, dedication and love of country, Garowe Online belongs to Puntland government? Sorry, Somali arms embargo by U.N. is a joke – Puntland government sympathy for Garowe Online is a bigger joke. Garowe Online is equal to every independent news agency in Somalia.

 

Puntland will not beg anyone for its security. Puntland will not ask anyone for permission for its own security, not Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia or U.S. State Department, or the U.N. This is the power of Puntland – granted, by He who has Absolute Power, Allahu Akbar.

 

Associated Press says Puntland wants to search for oil in Galgala hills. Sure, Puntland has its own oil company. It's called Galgala Oil Company; if what you say is true, please search for oil yourself. Puntland will guarantee the security for all companies who invest in Puntland – Muslim or non-Muslim.

 

No country on earth helped Puntland fight a three-month war in Galgala hills against Al Shabaab terrorists. Now that Puntland won the war, and is improving its security, the complaints about U.N. arms embargo is the discussion? Did the U.N. help Puntland fight a war? Does U.N. protect Puntland officials, who face assassination by Al Shabaab any minute? Oh wait, U.N. officials with three-piece suit are sipping coffee in New York City.

 

We say: Puntland security first, U.N. whining later. Puntland has no time for U.N. whining when its officials are targets. Puntland will not be a sitting duck, waiting for Al Shabaab terrorists to shoot our brilliant men and women, who work hard, who dedicate their life to helping their people. Puntland will never appease terrorists. But those who lie, and say Puntland wants oil in Galgala, please feel free to invest in Galgala and search for this elusive oil. Puntland will guarantee security for all investors.

 

International Crisis Group is a criminal organization based in Brussels. Their meetings are all about how to create violence and conflict in Pakistan, or Venezuela, or Puntland. They are intellectual mercenaries. Puntland has defeated Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda ideology. The remaining Al Shabaab terrorist cells will be dealt with mercilessly. But Puntland, or the Somali people as a whole as the gatekeepers of Islam, will never apologize for our Holy Religion. Puntland is home to Muslims. AP reports that a so-called Muslim country is funding anti-piracy troops being trained in Puntland.

 

Must be the crime of the century! One imagines the three-piece suit man, reading a newspaper in Melbourne or Seattle, who reads the AP version of truth about Puntland's anti-piracy troops. The notion of a "Muslim country" funding troops in Puntland is supposed to scare that man with the suit. He will wonder, he will ask questions, he will have much to fear.

 

So Puntland should have waited for Western donor money to fund its own security? Our deepest apologies, on behalf of Puntland since everyone is convinced Garowe Online is Puntland government. We are sorry. We should have waited. Waited for the terrorists to bomb our homes! We should give terrorists more time to kill educated persons in Puntland. Yes, this is appeasement policy of Western powers – those who declared a war they will never finish. Yes, lets appease the terrorists and say Somalia has U.N. arms embargo.

 

Please don't mention the terrorists who control ports and airports in Baidoa, Marka, Kismayo, Bali Dogle and Barawe. They have airplanes and ships bring them weapons every week. Please, don't mention them because the West appeases such terrorists. No one mention them. How dare you mention them!

 

Mention Puntland! They are under U.N. arms embargo on Somalia. Use Associated Press, to ensure delivery of message in every Western household, everyone should be scared of Puntland security forces being trained and funded by, so-called "Muslim country" and their "zakat fund."

 

Why is this Muslim country so mysterious? Associated Press should respect itself and never allow unconfirmed news to be published. Unless, there are Western governments who are unhappy, who are in fact terrified, Puntland will have helicopters to hunt down Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda terrorists. TFG is a failure – it's a joke among Somali people. Sheikh Sharif is a coward who lives inside of a plane – when he is not inside of a plane, he is asking his best friend Godane to have mercy on Ugandan soldiers serving in Mogadishu. Not asking mercy for his Somali brothers.

 

No one knows what the West wants with Somalia. Maybe Somalia should be a bathroom for Ethiopians to use. Or maybe Somalia should bow down to the power of its enemies, including those in the West, who advocate for continued anarchy in Somalia. This will never be acceptable.

 

Somalis will have their own army, they will rise above expectations, and Africa will be stunned when its hero (Somalia) stands up again.

 

No one has the right or ability to interfere with Puntland's security interests. Puntland will fight its enemies, first and foremost those who advocate assassinations and bombings in Puntland. There will be no mercy for them.

 

Puntland shall never apologize for taking full charge of its own security. But those terrorists in three-piece suit, who wish to see Somalia burn forever and be enslaved by Ethiopians and Ugandans, please remember one truth:

 

Puntland's destiny is already decided. Hate it or love it.

 

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READ: 1,000-man militia being trained in north Somalia

READ:  Somalia: First batch of 170 Puntland marines complete naval training

 

Garowe Online Editorial, editorial@garoweonline.com

[General Duke]

[General Duke]