3000 Additional Forces Set To Arrive in October
An additional 3000 troops are said to have been authorized by the African Union security arm that will see the AMISOM tally reach the expected 12,000 force, Somali officials said on Sunday.
Somali Defense Minister Hussein Arab Isse told Somalia Report that the AU session sitting in Addis Ababa recently confirmed the deployment of the additional soldiers. The forces are expected to arrive in Somalia in October, he said.
‘‘It is now official. The AU has approved the deployment of 3000 soldiers during a summit that took place in Addis Ababa,’’ Isse told Somalia Report.
‘‘We also talked about the need for training the Somali troops, both police and military so that they can assist in food distribution within the internally-displaced persons' (IDP) camps, and guarantee security to government stores," he said.
The additional troops will be drawn from Djibouti and Sierra Leone.
‘‘Two battalions from our African brothers namely Djibouti and Sierra Leone will be joining us in October to assist us in protecting the lives of the Somali people,’’ the minister.
AMISOM was formed in 2007 with an initial six months mandate to assist the TFG in the fight against the al-Shabaab who controlled nearly the whole of the capital. In recent weeks, AMISOM has received international support.
AU praise AMISOM forces
The AU Chairman Jean Ping on Saturday met with the Somalia's Transitional Federal President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed in Mogadishu.
Ping led a high-level delegation to the bullet-ridden capital to assess the progress made by the Somali administration with the backing from the African Union forces.
"My decision to come to Somalia was because of the change of the security situation in Somalia after our AU forces launched a rapid military offensive that saw the al-Shabaab flee all their bases in the capital Mogadishu,’’ Ping said.
Somali President Sheikh Ahmed thanked the AU chairperson for his visit to Mogadishu and said that the high-profile visits to Somalia will help change the perception the world has about the country.
Delayed Djibouti Troops Arrival
Djibouti government earlier this year pledged to send its troops to Somalia to boost the African Union Mission, comprising of Ugandan and Burundian troops, assisting the TFG in the fight against the al-Shabaab extremists.
