As part of measures to enhance security during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Somali Police Force (SPF) and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) police component have increased security patrols throughout the nation’s capital, Mogadishu.
The joint team has been conducting search activities, according to the AU mission, which have included installing snap checkpoints on major thoroughfares and access routes leading to governmental structures and offices.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by Barrie Yusuf, Team Leader of the ATMIS Joint Operations Command Center (JOCC), “the relevance of this joint patrol is for the inhabitants to know that ATMIS is working with them round the clock to increase security.”
Teamwork, Yusuf emphasized, will be essential to ensuring Mogadishu is secure both before and after Ramadan, which began on March 23.
According to ATMIS, the patrols are anticipated to offer both proactive and reactive solutions to security problems in order to guarantee that the Somali people have a tranquil Ramadan.
In order to foil or avert any planned terrorist assaults, Ali Mohamed Ousman, head of operations for SPF at Wadajir Police Station, stressed that ATMIS and SPF officials must remain attentive.
The officer, who has worked for the SPF for four years, stated that “the importance of this patrol is to reduce the attacks from terrorist groups.”
To tackle insecurity in Mogadishu and its environs, Mohamed asked ATMIS to step up its efforts in cooperative operations.
According to Mohamed, “the patrols have so far improved public safety and security stability, among other things.”
Throughout Ramadan, Mogadishu citizens were able to do business and move around freely thanks to the patrols, which were supported by ATMIS Individual Police Officers (IPOs) and the Formed Police Unit (FPU), according to ATMIS.
As part of measures to increase the capability of the local security forces, ATMIS Police and SPF are also patrolling together in the federal member states.