The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will move its training base to Ethiopia soon.
Reliable sources indicate that the new AMISOM training base is likely to be in Jigjiga, Ethiopia.
Since its creation on January 19, 2007, the organization has used Mogadishu as the base for training all its troops.
Further, reliable reports show that the United States Department of State will give the contract for constructing the new AMISOM training base to Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE).
The firm is a military logistics contractor based in the United States.
It will get a contract worth $13.6 million to transfer AMISOM’s training infrastructure to Jigjiga, which is around 60kms from Ethiopia’s border with Somaliland.
AMISOM is mandated to fight Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Other than that, it is responsible for training officers for Somalia’s security forces.
Nevertheless, the reasons for moving its training base to Jigjiga remain unclear.