The grounds have reportedly been established for armed American presence on Somali soil with a US security firm winning a contract in the war-ravaged country.
Michigan-based CSS Global Inc., secured the contract under the plea of 'fighting terrorism and piracy' and 'protecting' Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), reported Michigan Live citing The Grand Rapids Press newspaper.
"It is going to be a huge challenge," said Chris Frain, chief executive officer and co-owner of CSS Alliance, to which the CSS Global Inc is affiliated. "This is a brand-new government being stood up with the help of the international community."
The contractor's operations team was composed of former military and law enforcement personnel, including Special Forces, Michigan Live added.
The US firm has been involved in other African nations as well as in Iraq, where 17 civilians were killed in 2007 by a similar licentiate, Blackwater, currently known as Xe Services.
Washington has been exceedingly deputizing the companies, which are notorious for misusing their State Department-issued gun licenses as excuses for trigger-ready atrocities. The move has been denounced as an effort at putting a non-military face on the US pursuits in the respective countries.
US officials have, at the same time, been strongly arguing that there is an alleged al-Qaeda presence in Somalia and a reported militant-run recruitment network which, they say, could ensnare the Somali-American community.
Special Somali envoy to the United States, H.E. Ali Hassan Gulaid, however, said they were "confident the expertise of the CSS Global senior staff will prove to be a valuable asset to us in our efforts to establish a safe and secure Somalia for our citizens."
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