Fifty police officers drawn from various police stations across Jubaland attended the one-day training that also aimed to enable them to identify and combat extremism, especially ahead of the national elections.

For the elections, the Somali Police Force will lead the National Election Security Taskforce responsible for securing the electoral process while AMISOM Police will provide them with the needed support.

The AMISOM Community Policing Adviser, Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Daniel Chuks,  said the training took participants through the necessary skills to collaborate with the local communities to combat crime to safeguard lives and property.

"We are using the community policing approach to identify and fight terrorism. We expect the trainees to return to their stations and train their colleagues,” said CSP Chuks.

The training also provided the Somali Police officers with skills to counter the terrorists’ use of social media platforms to misinform, gather intelligence, and recruit violent extremists.

The Communication Information Technology Services (CITS) Advisor to the AMISOM Police, Ibrahim Sini, said, "terror groups are using these technologies to train, recruit, radicalize the youth who spend time on social media.”

The spokesperson of the Jubaland State Police, Col. Jama’a Ahmed Hassan, thanked AMISOM for the continuous support.

"We are grateful for the timely and effective training that will enable our personnel to perform their duties professionally,” said Col. Jama’a.

A police trainee, Ayan Ahmed Omar, said, "We gained good insight, and go back to our work stations better prepared to improve relations with our communities.”

- AMISOM -