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Soldiers from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) today received their salaries after four months without pay, according to TFG officials.
Each Mogadishu-based soldier, who waited in line and confirmed their identity, received $200 for August and September, but are still owed for October while TFG soldiers based in regions outside the capital did not get paid.
‘’Yes, each soldier has been given $200 for two months of his salary, August and September. The October payment will soon reach them,‘’ Abdinajib Hassan Abdi Nur, a TFG officer, told Somalia Report.
A TFG official vowed that the soldiers will receive their monthly salaries on a regular basis.
''We know they have a right to get their salary at the end of every month so this delay will not happen again,‘‘ Abdi Bashir, a TFG official, told the local media.
In recent months, unpaid TFG soldiers resorted to looting humanitarian relief aid and robbing civilians.
''It's true that when the soldiers didn't get their monthly salary they used their guns to loot others' property. I believe it is the TFG's fault,'' a TFG official told Somalia Report on the condition of anonymity.
This comes after TFG President Sheikh Sharif told the soldiers that the government will not tax anyone until al-Shabaab insurgents have been removed the country.