MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia has completed a year-long advanced training programme for intelligence and police officers focused on modern criminal investigation techniques, including the handling of evidence from terrorism-related crime scenes.
Mahad Mohamed Salad, director general of Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), attended a ceremony marking the completion of the programme, which brought together officers from NISA and the Somali Police Force.
Speaking at the ceremony, Salad said modern investigative methods and the preservation of evidence were essential to both national security and the pursuit of justice.
He stressed the need for security institutions to develop officers capable of investigating crimes, collecting and preserving evidence and verifying information used in criminal investigations.
The officers received training in modern crime-scene investigation, evidence collection and preservation, as well as methods for assessing and verifying information relevant to investigations.
The programme was supported by the United States government and delivered by international experts specialising in criminal investigations, according to Somali authorities.
Somali Police Force commander Brig. Gen. Asad Osman Abdullahi, senior military court judge Col. Hassan Ali Nur Shuute and U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Justin Davis also attended the closing ceremony.
The training forms part of wider efforts by Somalia and its international partners to strengthen the country’s security institutions and improve their ability to conduct professional investigations that meet legal and evidentiary standards.
For Somalia, strengthening investigative capacity is particularly important in cases involving terrorism, where the collection and preservation of evidence can determine whether suspects can be successfully prosecuted and convictions secured in court.
The programme also reflects a broader shift toward building security institutions that rely not only on operational capabilities but on professional investigative procedures, evidence-based prosecutions and adherence to the rule of law.
