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In December 2020, less than a month and a half before a highly volatile electoral process was supposed to take place in #Somalia, Turkey delivered 1,000 G3 rifles and 90,000 rounds of ammunition to the Somali federal government.
The materiel was intended for use by the Turkish-trained Haramcad ("Cheetah") special police unit.
Haramcad has since been linked to crackdowns on demonstrators and attacks on opposition politicians.
Yesterday, the unit raided the Mogadishu HQ of independent media outlet @MediaMustaqbal, confiscating equipment and beating up a journalist. https://twitter.com/sjs_Somalia/status/1386949369207918593?s=20
Yesterday, the unit raided the Mogadishu HQ of independent media outlet @MediaMustaqbal, confiscating equipment and beating up a journalist. https://twitter.com/sjs_Somalia/status/1386949369207918593?s=20
Turkey has always claimed to be a politically neutral actor supporting Somalia's development. But when a country supplies arms and ammunition to an autocratic regime desperately trying to cling onto power, it's taking sides.
