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UN, AU military engineers seek to enhance operations in Somalia

Xinhua, September 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Military engineers from the United Nations and African Union (AU) kicked off a two-day conference in Mogadishu on Monday to seek ways of enhancing their capabilities in the fight against Al-Shabaab.

The engineers from the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Britain and the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) are also seeking ways of effectively delivering engineering support to the pan African body in Somalia.

In his opening remarks, Special Representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira, urged proper alignment of engineering projects that would ensure effective support to the mission in the war against Al-Shabaab.

"I am sure you all know the very important role engineering plays in any military operation," said Madeira in a statement released in Mogadishu.

"This role, including combat and civil engineering, involves planning, construction, installation, movement, safety and security among other important roles. That is why it is important that you come up with a good plan to support this Mission in the next year," he said.

The military engineers will also be brainstorming on ways to enhance their operations, in line with the new Concept of Operations for AMISOM as well as review current operations and develop a comprehensive plan for 2017.

"This workshop will give us a forum to share experiences and summarize them into action. We promise to come up with a comprehensive plan to enable AMISOM function as required," AMISOM Force Engineer Col. Kazela Kazela said.

He said the engineering capabilities will play an important supportive role in the upcoming electoral process.

"As you are all aware, Somalia will very soon go to elections and AMISOM together with the federal government of Somalia will play an important role in this process. Our role is to secure the country, to ensure that this election takes place in a secure environment. Engineering has been called to play a very important role, and this is already happening," Madeira said. Endit