Somalia: Puntland Delivers Second Anti-Piracy Recruiting Force
Puntland Delivers Second Anti-Piracy Recruiting Force
Bosaso, Puntland State of Somalia – The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) received a second group of recruits that will be trained to deter, detect and eradicate piracy in the region.
More than 400 volunteers were recruited throughout the Puntland, representing all clans, and assembled over the period 25-29 February 2012 in Puntland's capital city, Garowe. The recruits went through vetting and medical screening and additional intake procedures.
Several senior and junior officers and non-commissioned officers of the Puntland Security Force (PSF) also were selected to accompany the new recruits during their training and will form part of the core leadership for future training and anti-piracy operations.
On March 2nd, a large vehicle convoy arrived with the recruits at the home base facility where Puntland officials and PMPF leadership welcomed them.
Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole) welcomed the recruits with the statement, “I am very proud on the people of Puntland that they could deliver these recruits, who will form the first intake for 2012.”
The PMPF local Commander, Col Abdurizak Dirie Farh. added “This is our second intake since the establishment of the PMPF, and we are able and ready to take the new recruits to even higher levels of operational readiness, after their formal training of approximately six months, to fight the scourge of piracy around our coastal water and on land and protect our marine resources. We learned a lot from our past experience and we are looking forward to developing the PMPF into an effective and efficient counter-piracy police force.”
The new recruits were issued basic gear, eating utensils and sleeping items and will complete their final administrative, medical and physical tests by end of the week. Basic training is scheduled to start on 10 March 2012 and will be completed within six weeks. More recruitment intakes are scheduled during 2012. PMPF Operations Personnel are busy with anti-piracy operations in Eyl and surrounding areas and will in due course expand operations deployments to other areas north and south of Eyl, along the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.
About the Puntland Maritime Police Force
The PMPF is a professional, locally-recruited coastal police force in the Puntland State of Somalia. The PMPF’s mission is to promote peace and stability in the region by deterring, detecting, and eradicating piracy, illegal fishing and other coastal crimes; protecting marine resources; and delivering much-needed humanitarian relief supplies to Puntland’s citizens.
