Somalia Trains a Coast Guard

I don't know what to make of the associated video, but you can watch it with the NECN article discussing the creation of the Somali Coast Guard development here.

Somalia has started training recruits to serve as the country's first naval force in two decades to fight rampant piracy off the country's coast.

The young men are being put through their paces on the shores of Mogadishu, practicing swimming, diving and shooting. Somali officials hope to have the new force operating in two months.

Admiral Farah Omar Ahmed, who is heading the new force, says he believes that after a period of training, the force "will be able to do something against the piracy."

Guess we will see in two months how effective this is. It is too early to tell if this development is good news or bad, because it is entirely possible they will look like pirates, and potentially get treated like pirates...

And pirates will have a chance to look and act like them. There are all kinds of problems with a Coast Guard developing in Somalia without direct contact and cooperation with naval forces operating under the UN mandate. This will add stress to existing deconfliction efforts.