MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey is poised to build a second foreign military base to assist security forces in Somalia in their fight against the Al-Shabaab militant group, Turkish media reported Tuesday.
The move comes less than a month after Turkey said it had reached a deal with Qatar to set up its first military base abroad.
A military source told Turkey’s Daily Sabah newspaper that the military center in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu will be capable of training more than 1,500 local troops to boost security in Horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has been staging attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by strict Sharia law. The group is notorious for committing gun and suicide attacks both in Somalia and in neighboring Kenya.
