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Djibouti to Send Peacekeepers to Somalia
By JOSH KRON
Published: November 2, 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia The tiny country of Djibouti will send about 850 soldiers to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia this month, a spokesman for the mission said Wednesday. It is only the third country to do so after a series of unmet promises from a number of African nations.
The troops from Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, will join roughly 9,000 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, which have been supporting Somalias weak, American-backed, transitional government since 2007. The government, which has been fighting Islamist insurgents known as the Shabab in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, has virtually no influence outside of the city, and despite a nationwide mandate, neither does the African Union.
But the peacekeepers have largely pushed the Shabab from Mogadishu, though the rebels still carry out hard-hitting attacks. For a peacekeeping force trying achieve an objective that no entity has accomplished in nearly 20 years pacify Somalia the Djiboutian troops will be welcome. The peacekeeping force is currently set at 12,000 troops, but peacekeeping officials hope for at least 20,000.
Our forces have been very adaptive, adapting to the terrain, fighting in built-up areas, said Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the peacekeeping force. But its been difficult.
More and more, countries in Africa are joining the battle in Somalia. Kenya sent hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers backed by tanks and gunships across the border to clear out the Shabab from a number of strongholds in southern Somalia. A high-ranking East African official said Tuesday that the heavily militarized country of Eritrea, which borders Djibouti and Ethiopia, had sent cargo planes loaded with weapons for the Shabab to southern Somalia, an accusation Eritrea rejects. Ethiopian troops have been spotted occupying Somali territory near a Shabab stronghold, and Uganda is sending another 2,000 of its own soldiers to join the peacekeeping force in Mogadishu.
The governments of South Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania have voiced support for Kenyas operation, and this week Kenya and Somalia asked for big countries, including the United States and European nations, to help in a naval blockade of the highly coveted Shabab-controlled seaport of Kismaayo.
Source/Full story
By JOSH KRON
Published: November 2, 2011
MOGADISHU, Somalia The tiny country of Djibouti will send about 850 soldiers to an African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia this month, a spokesman for the mission said Wednesday. It is only the third country to do so after a series of unmet promises from a number of African nations.
The troops from Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, will join roughly 9,000 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, which have been supporting Somalias weak, American-backed, transitional government since 2007. The government, which has been fighting Islamist insurgents known as the Shabab in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, has virtually no influence outside of the city, and despite a nationwide mandate, neither does the African Union.
But the peacekeepers have largely pushed the Shabab from Mogadishu, though the rebels still carry out hard-hitting attacks. For a peacekeeping force trying achieve an objective that no entity has accomplished in nearly 20 years pacify Somalia the Djiboutian troops will be welcome. The peacekeeping force is currently set at 12,000 troops, but peacekeeping officials hope for at least 20,000.
Our forces have been very adaptive, adapting to the terrain, fighting in built-up areas, said Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the peacekeeping force. But its been difficult.
More and more, countries in Africa are joining the battle in Somalia. Kenya sent hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers backed by tanks and gunships across the border to clear out the Shabab from a number of strongholds in southern Somalia. A high-ranking East African official said Tuesday that the heavily militarized country of Eritrea, which borders Djibouti and Ethiopia, had sent cargo planes loaded with weapons for the Shabab to southern Somalia, an accusation Eritrea rejects. Ethiopian troops have been spotted occupying Somali territory near a Shabab stronghold, and Uganda is sending another 2,000 of its own soldiers to join the peacekeeping force in Mogadishu.
The governments of South Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania have voiced support for Kenyas operation, and this week Kenya and Somalia asked for big countries, including the United States and European nations, to help in a naval blockade of the highly coveted Shabab-controlled seaport of Kismaayo.
Source/Full story
