He decries security threat posed by lifted arms embargo on Somalia
Somaliland Coast Guard have seized rogue dhows, arresting suspect insurgents
By M.A. Egge
The Minister of Internal Affairs Hon. Mohamed Kahin Ahmed, ha highlighted the security situation in the Red Sea, and the potential threats posed.
He also cautioned about the insecurity of the countries of the Horn of Africa that can be caused by the arms embargo that the Security Council lifted from Somalia, hence gave details about the operations of the Somaliland Coast Guard in the sea and the security threats they have thwarted and prevented.
The minister also revealed about international and neighboring countries efforts on working together on the security of the Red Sea.
Minister Mohamed Kahin Ahmed gave the details in an exclusive interview he gave to Dawan Newspaper.
Exerpts of the interview went as follows:-
Q: Minister, there are situations that have arisen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Babul-mandab, how do you intend to deal with the situation that has arisen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Babul-mandal?
A: As you know, there are situations that have arisen in the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden; since 1990 there has been a lot of tension that has happened in India ocean since there have been a lot of pirates hijacking vessels.
Our sea shore spans 850 km from Lowyado to Qow and we are responsible for its security.
The sea between us and the Gulf is the Gulf and the sea where 80% of maritime trade traffic passes through to Europe, South Africa, East Africa, Asia, they go through that passage to whose security is part of our responsibility.
Due to the uproar, the governments of the South and the North, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf region, the Arabian Gulf, and the African countries from the Red Sea, have been creating a council known to operate on its stability but ironically we are not part of it whereas 850 km of the stretch is our sea shore.
It is the government of Somaliland that is responsible for it.
We are in the process of trying to make Somaliland a part of that council with our servicemen taking part duly in defense of its shores and marinetime security as per cue.
Q: Mr. Minister, Somaliland has made various calls to many countries that are concerned about the Red Sea and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, have you received any response so far?
A: The government of Djibouti, which is a neighbor of ours, cooperates with us, our army and navy hence we train together on the coast, and we cooperate, and we get news from some of them.
We are in control of our shores.
