Turkey Donates 22 Military Vehicles To Somali Special Forces To Fight Al-Qaeda Network

An illustration of a Turkish Kirpi mine anti-mine vehicle with a United States military vehicle. (Wikimedia Commons/Staff Sgt. Timothy Koster)

JAKARTA - Africa has become one of the 'favorite' areas for the Al-Qaeda group to build a network, with their many branches in a number of countries in this region. One of them is in Somalia.

In order to assist Turkey in dealing with one of these radical militant groups, the Turkish government handed over 22 military vehicles to Somalia, including eight Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) wheeled armored vehicles.

The vehicle was handed over to Somali Ministry of Defense officials and General Odowaa Yusuf Rage, head of Somalia's National Armed Forces, in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday 15 August evening.

Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Yilmaz and military officials attended the ceremony. It said the MRAP vehicles would be used by Somalia's special forces, Komando Gorgor, in the fight against the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

"It is a pleasure to participate in the handover ceremony for eight Kirpi armored vehicles, as well as 14 military trucks donated by Turkey to the Somali National Army," the Turkish envoy said in a brief statement on the Turkish Embassy's Twitter page.

Turkish Kirpi mine anti mine vehicle illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/CeeGee0

In addition to providing physical assistance in the form of weapons, the Turkish government also provides non-physical assistance in the form of training for Somali soldiers. The exercise was held in Mogadishu as well as within Turkey.

"The 15th Force of Somalia's Haramcad Special Forces completed their training by Turkish personnel at the TURKSOM Military Training Center," the Turkish Embassy said in another tweet on Sunday.

Turkey and Somalia have a warm relationship. Quoting Arab News on August 7, the amount of Turkish aid for Somalia is said to have reached a nominal value of around 117 million United States (US) dollars.

Since declaring 2005 the 'Year of Africa', Turkey has engaged strongly with Somalia and enhanced bilateral political, military, trade and economic ties.

Most recently, the Turkish government announced aid of 30 million US dollars for Somalia on 5 August. The announcement has drawn criticism, as Turkey does not have aircraft to help fight forest fires in the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.

"A total of six fire engines can be bought with this money," said Alpay Antmen of the main opposition Republican People's Party.