Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somalia and Italy have signed a five-year police training agreement in Mogadishu during a visit by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, in a move officials said would deepen security cooperation.
Somali Internal Security Minister General Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, known as Fartag, signed the memorandum of understanding with Piantedosi on July 3, alongside senior officials from both governments, according to a joint communiqué.
Piantedosi also met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at Villa Somalia, where the two sides discussed the historic relationship between Somalia and Italy, security cooperation, state-building, migration management, border control, and a wider strategic partnership.
The Somali presidency said Hassan Sheikh stressed the importance Mogadishu attaches to its long-standing ties with Italy, describing cooperation between the two countries as a pillar of efforts to rebuild state institutions, strengthen stability and support development.
The agreement creates a government-to-government framework for cooperation in police training, including academic and vocational programmes, train-the-trainer courses, exchange visits, workshops, seminars and advanced refresher courses.
It also provides for the exchange of expertise and best practice between the two countries, and for joint training projects aimed at improving professional specialisation in areas of shared interest.
The communiqué described the signing as “an important milestone” in Somalia-Italy cooperation and said it marked “a new chapter” in police training ties.
Officials said the deal reflected “mutual respect, institutional partnership and a shared commitment to professional excellence and capacity development”.
Joint working group
Under the agreement, Somalia and Italy will establish a joint working group composed of representatives from the competent authorities of both countries.
The group will coordinate implementation, review progress and plan future cooperation, while the designated authorities on both sides will oversee activities within their respective mandates.
The two governments agreed that English and Italian would serve as the working languages for cooperation.
The memorandum also states that all activities must comply with national laws, applicable international law, and, in Italy’s case, obligations linked to its European Union membership.
It says cooperation will respect international human rights law and relevant standards set by the two countries.
The agreement also includes safeguards for the protection and processing of personal data exchanged under the framework.
It will remain in force for an initial period of 5 years and may be renewed by mutual written consent.
Security pressure
The pact comes as Somalia faces renewed pressure over its security transition.
Mogadishu has spent years trying to rebuild its police, army and intelligence services after decades of state collapse, civil war and militant violence.
Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, still controls large rural areas and carries out deadly attacks against civilians, Somali forces, government sites and African Union troops.
The government has launched several military campaigns against the militants, backed by local clan militias, African Union forces and international partners.
But progress has proved uneven, with Al-Shabaab showing an ability to regroup, strike heavily guarded targets and exploit gaps in state authority.
Somalia is also navigating uncertainty over the future of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, which replaced the previous AU mission in 2025.
The force supports Somali troops, helps protect key sites and assists efforts to stabilise areas recovered from Al-Shabaab.
But funding and logistical questions have grown sharper as international partners press Somalia to take greater responsibility for its own security.
That makes police training and institutional capacity a central issue for Mogadishu, especially in areas where soldiers clear territory but civilian authorities and police must then hold it.
Long ties
Italy has deep historical links with Somalia, which was once an Italian colony and later a United Nations trust territory administered by Rome before independence in 1960.
Those ties have remained visible in diplomacy, education, development and security cooperation.
Rome has supported Somali state-building efforts for years, including through the European Union Training Mission and police-related programmes involving Italy’s Carabinieri.
Italian officials have also framed Somalia as an important partner in the wider Horn of Africa, a region shaped by insecurity, migration routes, Red Sea tensions and competition between foreign powers.
Piantedosi’s visit to Mogadishu underlined that wider agenda, with talks covering not only police training but also counter-terrorism, transnational crime, migration and border management.
“Italy and Somalia share a long history of friendship,” Piantedosi said, according to Italian reporting on the visit.
He said Rome wanted to relaunch a partnership built on security, institutional growth and shared development.
For Somalia, the agreement provides the federal government with another channel to professionalise its police forces at a time when the country is shifting from military-led operations to long-term civilian security.
For Italy, it strengthens engagement with a country where Rome retains historic influence and is increasingly strategic.
Officials from both governments said implementation would depend on close institutional coordination, regular meetings of the joint working group and sustained cooperation between the authorities designated by both sides.
