The Somali government announced on Wednesday that it will take over paying and training the soldiers in the programme, Defence Minister Mohammed Mursal Abdirahman told Somalia's state news agency Sonna.
"Somalia will fully take over [its troops] trained by the UAE... Those forces will be added to the various battalions of the Somalia National Army," Abdirahman said, adding the soldiers would be integrated into other units on Thursday.
The UAE has trained hundreds of troops since 2014 as part of an effort boosted by an African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
military mission to defeat an al-Shabaab
...
an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia...insurgency and secure the country for the government, which is backed by Western nations,
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund....
and the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
.
There was no immediate comment from the UAE government.