03/03/2015 - On 24 February, with the arrival in Djibouti of 199 Somali policemen (including 13 women), the mission MIADIT (Italian Training Mission) Somalia 3 officially began.

Born of a bilateral cooperation agreement between the Italian and the Somali government, the mission of capacity building in favor of the Somali security forces it is fed by personnel of the Carabinieri, and it has reached its third edition, which follows the two previous editions chronologically, held in 2013 and 2014.

The courses provide 12 weeks of intense work: the training process includes, in addition to basic training modules for police officers such as procedures for checking people and vehicles, the basics of investigative techniques, the procedures for the inspection and finding on the scene of a crime, also concepts of law, with particular attention to humanitarian law and international law.

The Somali students were dressed and equipped with uniforms and materials donated by Italy, and were divided into classes permanently assigned to their instructors, so as to be able to be followed continuously throughout the training process.

The approximately 200 students will be added to the 350 units already formed in the previous two editions, and which currently perform high-profile assignments thanks to the level of training achieved.

For this edition, commanded for the second consecutive time by Colonel Paolo Pelosi, the novelty consists in the addition of two additional specialized training modules (theoretical and practical) in favor of 40 elements of the Gibutinian national police forces, held by instructors from the leading departments of the Carabinieri: the Special Intervention Group^[1] (GIS), the 1 Regiment Carabinieri Paratroopers "Tuscania", the Grouping Carabinieri Scientific Investigations (RACIS) and the Special Operating Grouping^[2] (ROS).

The final objective of the course is to foster the stability and security of Somalia and the whole region of the Horn of Africa, increasing the capacity of the national police forces in the field of security and control of the territory.

[1] Department of elite of the Arma, specialized in special operations such as anti-terrorism, extraction and release of hostages etc.  

[2] Investigative body of excellence of the Carabinieri, with main competence in the fight against organized crime and terrorism.

Source: General Command of the Carabinieri Corps - Press Office