Somali President inspects the air force that completed its training in Eritrea

 The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Dr. Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, accompanied by the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, inspected units of the Somali Air Force that completed their military training in the State of Eritrea, and inspected the Air Force graduates training facility.

The Eritrean government said the recruits had received rigorous training. "Eritrea feels proud to contribute to the training and building of the Somali National Army," the Eritrean president said, according to the Eritrean Ministry of Information.

At least 5,000 Somali trainees were secretly sent to Eritrea during the era of the former Somali government, starting from mid-August 2019 and continuing until June 2020, which sparked great controversy in the country, especially after rumors of the trainees’ participation in the war that took place in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia.