MOGADISHU (SD) – Somali National Army (SNA) has received military vehicles including trucks and ambulances donated by government in a bid to accelerate the fight against al-Shabaab militants.

Officials from Turkish embassy have handed over the keys of the vehicles to SNA army chief Gen. Odawa Yusuf Rageh, SNA chief in a handing over ceremony held in Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The event was also attended by Officials from Turkey’s military mission.

According to SNA army chief Gen. Odawa Yusuf Rageh, the vehicles will be used by Somalia’s Turkish trained elite military unit, Gorgor commandos.

“The donation will be helpful Somali military in their operations against terror group, Al-Shabaab. The vehicles will be specifically used by Gorgor commandos. We thank Turkish government for its support for Somalia,” Rageh said.

Rageh confirmed that Somali forces will intensify operations against al-Shabaab fighters in southern and central Somalia.

Somalia which once had possessed a formidable military in the continent during era of late Mohamed Siyad Barre has been struggling to rebuild its forces for the past twenty years.

The army which disintegrated when the civil war 1990s was re-established during the former transitional Somali governments.

SNA soldiers backed by continental forces have been battling Al-Shabab in different parts of the country for a decade.

SNA was established on 12th April in 1960 after Somalia got its full independence.