The Federal Government of Somalia is set to open a new military training camp in the Bardhere District in the Gedo Region. The Commander of the Somali National Army (SNA) Ground Forces, General Sahal Abdullahi Omar, arrived in Bardhere yesterday, Sunday, leading a delegation of officers including the SNA Commander of Training and Directorate, General Ahmed Isse Ahmed, and the Head of SNA Communications and Technology Directorate, Colonel Farah Ali Artan.
This camp is designed to train new units of the National Army-specifically for the 43rd Division which operates in the Jubaland region.
National Army officials in the Gedo region report that a new group of young recruits has been assembled in Bardhere District, while others are expected to arrive locations—including the capital, Mogadishu—to undergo training at the camp being established there.
An official who requested anonymity told Universal TV that operations against Al-Shabaab militants are being launched from Bardhere to liberate areas currently outside the control of the Federal Government.
The visit by the Army Ground Forces Commander to Bardhere aims to strengthen coordination and reorganize the National Army, transforming the district to serve as a major base for directing operations across several regions.
In recent times, the Gedo region has been a site of power struggle regarding local district administrations and conflicting military movements involving the Federal Government and the Jubaland Regional State.
The struggle between the two sides for control of the Gedo region runs deep and has recently taken on a critical new dimension. The primary sources of the escalating tension is the Federal Government’s plan to hold “one-person, one-vote” elections in the region through the National Electoral Commission.
Meanwhile, Jubaland officials from certain district administrations oppose this plan, insisting on that it must be contingent upon securing the consent of—and engaging genuine consultation with—the Kismayo administration.
