Somalia has received a donation of armored personnel carriers from Turkey to help it in the fight against Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups in the country.
Hassan Ali Mohamed, Somalia’s Minister of Defense, received the donation on Thursday.
Gen. Odawaa Yusuf Rageh, the Commander of the Somali Armed Forces (SAF), was at the handing over ceremony, which took place in Mogadishu.
Mehmet Yilmaz, Turkey’s Ambassador to Somalia, handed over the fleet of 12 armored personnel carriers to the Somali officials.
The defense minister said the carriers would help the war against extremists greatly.
Mohamed said Gorgor, Somali’s special unit also known as Eagle, which the Turkish government trained and continues to mentor, would be using the vehicles.
On his part, Rageh hailed “the friendly and brotherly Turkey” for donating state-of-the-art personnel carriers to Somalia’s military.
Ambassador Yilmaz promised continued support from Turkey to Somalia.
The donation of 12 personnel carriers comes in the same week that Turkey also handed over 12 off-road vehicles to the East African nation.
