Somalia hails lifting of 30-year-old arms embargo, vows to wipe out al-Shabab

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed his satisfaction with the recent decision by the UN Security Council to lift a more than 30-year-old arms embargo imposed on the Horn of Africa nation. The 15-member council unanimously voted Friday night in favor of the British-drafted resolution to lift the weapons ban. However, France abstained from voting on another resolution that sought to reimpose an arms embargo on al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants. France argued that the resolution lacked references to territorial disputes between Djibouti and Eritrea. Information Minister Daud Aweis conveyed in a statement to the Associated Press that the removal of the embargo would contribute to modernising Somalia’s armed forces. The statement emphasised the country’s need for access to modern arms and equipment to effectively combat security threats, including the presence of extremist groups such as al-Shabab. President Mohamud, in a televised statement following the resolution’s adoption, highlighted that the lift of the embargo signifies the freedom for Somalia to procure any necessary weapons. He mentioned that “friendly nations and allies” can now provide support without limitations or restrictions. Somalia was placed under the embargo in 1992 to stop the sale of weapons to warlords who toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. The ouster led to decades of civil war and instability in the country as the warlords fought against each other. Last month, Mohamud pledged to wipe out the Islamist group, al-Shabaab, by Dec. 2024. The militant group has lost swaths of territory since the government backed by local militias, African Union troops and Western powers, launched an extensive offensive against it in May. Somalia has been plagued by years of conflict and has for decades heavily depended on the support of African Union forces, as well as Western powers such as the United States and Turkey, to maintain security and counter the threat posed by Islamic militant groups operating within the country. With inputs from AP