The Somali Police Force and the African Union AMISOM have agreed to increase the security of the Hirshabelle region after talks in Jowhar between the commanders of both sides.
The meeting was attended by the Hirshabelle State Police Commissioner, Col. Hassan Dhicisow, Head of the United Nations Office in Jowhar, Gagan Banjara, and ATMIS Head of Hirshabelle Police Marafa Manu.
According to a press release issued by Atmis, senior military and police officials discussed how to speed up cooperation to secure Jowhar.
“We had a good exchange, good talks about how to work together, planning operations to effectively fight Al-Shabaab terrorists. We agreed to continue such meetings to exchange information and plan operations,” said the Commander of ATMIS Burundi, Brig. Gen. Jean Claude Niyiburana.
The fight against the extremist group has become the first priority of ATMIS and the Federal Government of Somalia as the reduction of forces has entered a critical phase.
Brig. Gen. Niyiburana said that the collaboration between ATMIS and the Somali Police in Hirshabeelle regional government will pave the way for operations against Al-Shabaab.
Col. Hassan described the meeting as a good step taken to strengthen joint efforts to weaken Al-Shabaab and other armed groups.
“We discussed how to fight Al-Shabaab and liberate the areas under their control. As you are aware, there are ongoing operations against Al-Shabaab in Hirshabeelle. The areas east of the Shabelle River have been stabilized and liberated, and the aim was to plan how to liberate the rest of the areas west of the Shabelle River,” he added.
