At least 600 weapons were stolen in the past week from a former United Arab Emirates-run training center in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and are for sale in the city, weapons dealers said on Wednesday.
The weapons, including new Kalashnikov assault rifles and Chinese versions of them, were stolen by Somali National Army soldiers who had been trained by the UAE at its facility, three Somali men who purchased weapons from the soldiers told Reuters.
On Monday, gunfire broke out at the former training center where some of the troops were still camped out, and UAE-trained troops who were still there fled with as many weapons as they could, before a rival group took over the facility.
The dealers showed Reuters five weapons they said they bought from the soldiers. They all bore the marking “SO XDS”, indicating that they belonged to the Somali army.
“About 600 to 700 AK-47 and (other) guns were looted from the former UAE training camps,” weapons dealer Jama Ali told Reuters, speaking from a home in Mogadishu where he and two other men presented the weapons.
Ali said they purchased the weapons for $700, a significant discount on the current price of $1,350 in Mogadishu for a new Kalashnikov. The dealers then began last night reselling the weapons at $1,000 each, he said.
“The best day for business is when there is government infighting,” said Hassan Abuja, another dealer. “Prices of weapons and ammunition go up.”
