Somalia detains US-trained officers over stolen rations

School-going children serve food during lunchtime at a a centre supported by WFP. [Courtesy, WFP]

Somali authorities have detained members of an elite US-trained commando unit for stealing food rations, two officials said Friday, as the Mogadishu government announced it would now assume the responsibility for provisions.

The United States has been a vital backer of Somalia's Danab Brigade commandos, an elite army force involved in the fight against the Al-Shabaab militant group linked with Al-Qaeda.

Somalia's defence ministry said Thursday that the army had "reported a diversion of Danab rations within a unit of its forces," prompting the government to launch an investigation resulting in the suspension and detention of a number of officers.

"The federal government in consultation with the United States government will assume the responsibility of providing rations to Danab."

The US government started supporting the Danab force in 2017 through training and providing food and military equipment to the elite unit.

The commandos played a key role in Somalia's recent military offensive against the Al-Shabaab, which has been waging an insurgency against the fragile central government for over 16 years.

According to Somali officials who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the theft from a military store in the capital Mogadishu was discovered in December last year.

"The US government demanded thorough investigations and the Somali government carried out the investigation to avoid the... suspension of US government support to the Somali military," a senior Somali army official told AFP.

A second official from the defence ministry said, "the US informed the Somali government that they will suspend the support to the Danab force if the Somali government fails to establish facts and ensure accountability."

"But it's sorted now and those who were involved in the mismanagement were detained, they will be brought to justice," the official told AFP.

Launched by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in 2022, the offensive against the Al-Shabaab, made early gains before suffering setbacks last year.

Although forced out of Mogadishu by an African Union force in 2011, the jihadists retain a strong presence in rural Somalia and have carried out numerous attacks against political, security and civilian targets.