Army Chief Replaced

Somalia government has  replaced its chief of the armed forces barely two days after the armed group Al-Shabaab staged a deadly attack on AMISOM base in Janale, Lower Shabelle region, 90 km south of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

In its regular weekly meeting, the Somali Cabinet unanimously endorsed General Mohamed Aden Ahmed to head the Somali Armed Forces, replacing his former commander, Gen. Dahir Adan Elmi.

The Cabinet meeting that saw the endorsement of the new general was chaired by the Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and attended by the Minister of Defense, Abdikadir Sheikh Ali Diini, who proposed the name to the Cabinet.

The newly appointed general graduated from the Military Academy in Egypt and trained in the Command and General Staff from Moscow. Ahmed Aden similarly attended the War and Strategic Studies in USA.

“He has also served in various posts in the National Armed Forces , such as the Commander of the Parachute Commandos Battalion in Ballidoogle and Division Commander in Beledweyne, Baidoa and DhusaMareb, ” added the official statement released to the press. The timing of the appointment is seen as strategic move to counter the heightened activities of the Al-Shabaab militants.

“The move to replace General Adan Dahir Elmi is part of a wider strategy to motivate and empower the national army,” the statement continued. Prime Minister Abdirashid Sharmarke challenged the new General to continue from where his predecessors left, saying they all left the forces in a better shape. Twelve Ugandan soldiers were killed in Tuesday’s raid on an African Union (AU) base in southern Somalia. The bodies of ten Ugandan forces were flown home on Thursday.