AU seeks for more troops in Somalia

ADDIS ABABA, Thursday

The African Union has renewed efforts to increase the number of troops under its command in Somalia, a day after Kenya said it was willing to deploy forces for the bloc’s mission.

The AU’s Peace and Security Council held talks in the Ethiopian capital with Kenyan and other regional officials on ways to defeat Somalia’s Islamist rebels and help stabilise the war-torn horn of Africa state. (READ: Joint Africa force to hunt militants)

AU spokesman El Ghassan Wane urged the United Nations to increase support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which he said faced “a challenging task.”

“We are asking the UN to increase its support to the mission and make it more effective on the ground,” he said. The 9,700-strong Amisom requires additional troops, funding and equipment.

Out of the AU’s 54 members, only Burundi and Uganda have supplied troops. Kenyan has also pledged top avail troops for the mission “in case a request is made.”

“We would go there to keep peace within the context of AMISOM. Kenyan troops would be under the command, the uniform and the hats of Amisom,” Foreign minister Moses Wetangula told the BBC on Thursday.

AU spokeswoman Nissa Roguiai told AFP earlier that the Addis Ababa meeting would address Ethiopia’s possible troop deployment.

“It’s only discussions, no consultations will be made. We’re waiting for a commitment,” she said. However, no details were announced at the end of the meeting.

Kenya has already acted on its own by sending troops and tanks into southern Somalia to set up a buffer zone against Al-Shabaab militia which controls most of the country and is blamed for recent attacks and kidnappings in Kenyan tourist areas.

Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006 with US backing, but pulled out three years later after failing to restore order in its lawless neighbour, which has lacked a functioning government for two decades.

Amisom, whose commanders have repeatedly called for reinforcements, is tasked with protecting Somalia’s government.