Sierra Leone has deployed a contingent of 145 police officer to Somalia who has arrived in the Horn of Africa country to be stationed in central south Somalia. All the 145 officers from the Formed Police Unit (FPU), travelled to the port city of Kismayo to join an advance team of 15 officers who had arrived earlier.
The additional officers who make up the largest police contingent to Somalia will start supporting their Somali counterparts in keeping law and order in the outstations of the Jubbaland Administration.
Christine Alalo, the Acting AMISOM Police Commissioner, who received the contingent at the airport said, “Their coming is going to be a boost to the Jubbaland State Police Force. In 2016, we trained 600 police officers in Jubbaland, and the Sierra Leone FPU will help them build and empower their policing operations.”
The core duties of the police officers from the Formed Police Unit include; public order management, protection of facilities and support to police operations that require a concerted response.
AMISOM is committed to redoubling its efforts to train and recruit more police officers during the transition period as it prepares to hand over security responsibilities to the Somali security forces as stipulated in the UN Security Council Resolution.
