Somalia urges countries to comply with arms embargo on Al-Shabaab

NEW YORK - Somalia appealed to United Nations (UN) member states, as well as its neighbours, to strictly adhere to a resolution imposing an arms embargo on all deliveries of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Islamist militant group, Al-Shabaab.

Somalia’s ambassador to the UN, Abukar Osman made the call during a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday. He also cautioned countries against providing any logistical support to the group.

Osman said the Somali government was deeply concerned over allegations that weapons had been smuggled into Somalia from a country that contributes troops to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). Osman did not name the country, only saying that the incident took place in July.

“Somali government is investigating last month’s incident and will share the outcome in due course,” Osman said.

Osman said the illegal flow of arms into Somalia posed a significant threat to peace and security by fueling clan conflicts and empowering Al-Shabaab to “attack soft targets”. He cited an attack by Al-Shabaab on Lido beach in Mogadishu on August 3 that killed more than 30 people and injured more than 60 others.

Osman added that the consequences of the illegal arms flow into Somalia also destabilized neighboring countries and negatively affected regional security as a whole.

“We must acknowledge that addressing this issue requires a coordinated response.”

The UN imposed an arms embargo on Somalia for more than three decades in 1992. The embargo was lifted in December last year but restrictions on arms trade or supplies to Al-Shabaab were retained.