Somalia ranks first for the most vulnerable Arab armies
Report | Times Of Sudan
Global Fire Power ranks global militaries according to criteria that allow a military comparison between the various countries of the world, large and small.
Somalia ranked first for the most vulnerable Arab armies (137 in the world). The Somali armed forces comprise no more than 20 thousand personnel, and the ground forces comprise no more than “80” armored vehicles, and the Somali army does not possess any tanks, warplanes, or even Helicopter.
Observers said that the policy of the outgoing President, Muhammad Abdullah Farmajo, is pushing the army to greater corruption and greater weakness.
In May 2018, major international donors urged Somalia to speed up the reform of the army, after they discussed the slow pace of procedures for transforming the corrupt armed forces into a force capable of confronting the militant terrorist group Al-Shabab, linked to Al Qaeda.
In addition to its inability to meet security challenges, the weak Somali government is incapable of ending the rampant corruption of the country’s exhausted institutions torn apart by chaos and conflict.
The Somali National Army report described it as a “fragile force with severely weak command and control.”
The outgoing government is also facing more confusion and divisions as it lined up on the Qatari-Turkish axis, and seems really incapable of restricting weapons to the hands of the state.
The breakdowns in the ranks of the Somali armed forces reflected the great troubles that the government of President Muhammad Abdullah Muhammad Farmajo was going through.
Western diplomats believe that President Mohamed Farmajo’s loyalty to Qatar greatly helped in the security confusion and political divisions that Somalia is experiencing, noting that the secret of his alignment and a number of his senior aides on the Qatari-Turkish axis is mainly due to Qatar’s funding of their election campaign in 2017.
Analysts believe that Doha, which is accused of financing and supporting terrorism, is pushing Mogadishu to more chaos and instability at a critical time for President Farmajo, who promised to fight terrorism.
But he (Farmajo), stands unable even to protect the capital, Mogadishu, where the headquarters, government and parliament are located!
Donors have called for the military to implement electronic payroll systems to curb corruption.
The Heritage Foundation in Washington said, “The Somali National Army should develop itself significantly in a short period of time, as its development process is far behind the timetable that was agreed upon in 2017.”
Tensions between the federal government and the regional governments escalated this year amid a dispute stemming from the policy of President Farmajo, who apparently chose to entrench itself in the axis of militancy after countries helped him train army and police forces and provided financial aid “mainly aimed at improving the standard of living in Somalia through programs.” Ambitious developmental and humanitarian. ”
Those countries suspended the training program for Somali forces due to the government’s policy, which, with the support of Turkey and Qatar, chose to engage in the politics of axes and support the youth movement instead of supporting the army, development and humanitarian projects.
