Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki
Afwerki surprisingly spoke about the army trained in Eritrea and the politics of Somalia.
The president of Eritrea, Asias Afwerki, gave a 4 hour interview to the country’s national television, where he discussed issues such as the formation of the Somali army and foreign interference.
In about 30 minutes of the interview, he talked about the situation in Somalia, especially the construction of the military and security in Somalia, which he described as not being able to rely on militia forces, and he meant the local forces that recently took up arms, to fight Al -Shabab.
He spoke about the foreign intervention in Somalia and the rebuilding of the army, and one of his words was, “Somalia needs to build independent institutions because it is a free country, the first thing is Somalia should coordinate its defense forces, it should not rely on militias, and the use of militias should be removed from the process of rebuilding the army.”
“In order to implement this, we need to find a Somali government that stands on its feet, and can establish and ensure the strategy of rebuilding public institutions and the defense of the country,” Afwerki added.
The need for defense forces in Somalia
Speaking about the need of Somalia’s defense forces, Afwerki said that considering the size of Somalia’s land and sea, the 5,000 troops that Eritrea recently trained for Somalia are not enough.
On the other hand, he explained how Somalia can build a powerful national army, and he himself is ready to help Somalia in these matters. But he warned that any foreign intervention could delay the success of Somali forces.
Afwerki, who believes that Somalia has a huge need for an army, said that, “Somalia needs its own army of 140,000 to 160,000.”
Foreign intervention and the Somali army
Afwerki said that there is a need to establish the army in a way that can protect the existence of Somalia, without taking orders from foreigners.
“The army should be built in such a way that they can protect the existence of Somalia, they should not take orders from foreigners or come from militias made up of different tribes, or believe in different ideas, the army should be serve the unity and development of Somalia, and that goal cannot be achieved by using militias,” said Asaias Afwerki, the President of Eritrea.
Afwerki, who said that what crippled Somalia is foreign intervention, also pointed out that in order to intervene in Somalia, the problem of terrorism is used as an excuse, which worsens the situation in the country.
“The situation in Somalia is made worse by any intervention from foreign hands under the pretext of the problem of terrorism or Al-Shabab,” said Afwerki.
The statement of the president of Eritrea comes at a time when the war of the Somali government forces with the help of tribal militias called Mawisele against the Al-Shabab terrorist group is at a critical point.