A target of having at least 30,000 soldiers and at least 40,000 police officers has been set by Somalia’s federal and regional leaders in order to meet security demands when African Union forces depart the nation by the end of next year.
Somalia’s federal and regional leaders have agreed to increase the number of armed forces and police officers to meet security demands as African Union forces leave the country by the end of next year. The new agreement, known as the “National Security Architecture,” specifies that the number of national armed forces will be at least 30,000 soldiers and at least 40,000 police personnel, which is an increase from the 2017 agreement. The new agreement aims to prepare the country’s forces to take over security responsibilities from AU forces. The agreement also allows the number of custodial corps to be 5,300, and federal member states will no longer have their own intelligence agencies and armed agents once the country is stabilized. The Somali government is concentrating on transferring security responsibilities from African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to meet its security responsibilities.
Source: https://www.voanews.com/a/somali-leaders-agree-to-increase-troop-numbers/7012152.html
