MOGADISHU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Wednesday called on the international community to help Somalia develop capacity to tackle the potent threats in the country.
Senior AMISOM officials including security officials who ended their fourth Bi-annual Counter IED Conference in Mogadishu reached agreement on measures to tackle effectively the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that present a major threat to the country's stabilization process.
"The conference resolved among others to encourage the use of forensics and intensify training of personnel to help counter the threat posed by IEDs," participants said in a joint statement issued by the AU mission.
The conference acknowledged that the indiscriminate use of IEDs by al-Shabab militants posed a major risk to the realization of sustainable peace and stability in the Horn of Africa country and emphasized efforts that will decisively tackle the problem.
The AU mission-backed conference brought together key stakeholders who included senior officials from Somali security institutions, AMISOM and international partners.
Francisco Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, lauded the partners for their continued support and commitment to capacitating AMISOM personnel on how to deal with the threat of IEDs to security forces and the civilian populations.
"We need this commitment and solidarity to continue until we are able to say that Mogadishu is really safe and dependable. That the MSRs (main supply routes) linking Mogadishu-Beletweyne; Mogadishu-Baidoa; Mogadishu-Barawe; Dhobley, Afamadow and Kismayo, Kansuma Bridge, are all passable, safe and free of IEDs," said Madeira.
Salvator Harushimana, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in Charge of Support and Logistics, called for greater collaboration between stakeholders in order to find a lasting solution to the IED problem.
At least 3,000 civilians have been either killed or injured by IEDs in Somalia in the past three years, the UN Mine-Action Service (UNMAS), UN's demining agency, said in early April.
It said the year 2017 was the deadliest, in large part due to an IED attack on Oct. 14 in Mogadishu which killed more than 500 people and injured over 300 in twin bombings.