International News
UN council may help AU send more troops to Somalia
November 30, 2010 · 2 Comments
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Security Council members support the idea of increasing the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia to help support the country’s fragile government, Britain’s U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.
The AU mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, would like to increase its upper limit of 8,000 troops to 12,000, provided it receives a green light and financial and military aid from the 15-nation Security Council.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said no council member had raised any objections to the idea of raising the limit on the number of AMISOM troops during a closed-door meeting.
The lawless Horn of Africa nation has been mired in violence and awash with weapons since the ousting of a dictator in 1991. In addition to an Islamist insurgency raging across the country, pirates have become the scourge of the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia.
Although AMISOM is an AU mission, it has a Security Council mandate and receives support from the United Nations. Burundi and Uganda are the sole suppliers of troops for the mission.
Before the council can approve an expansion, it will need to sort out the extra costs, U.N. diplomats say.
African countries have asked the United Nations to fund AMISOM troop’s salaries to make them equal to those of U.N. peacekeepers, who get just over $1,000 per month, envoys say.
AMISOM soldiers are currently paid around $700 per month.
Council diplomats said the extra troops should enable AMISOM to secure Mogadishu from Islamist al Shabaab rebels, who seek to topple the government and impose a harsh form of sharia law.
Western security officials say Somalia is a fertile breeding ground for Islamist militants and is attracting increasing numbers of foreign jihadists.
Email this story
By Mo Guled
Tags: AMISOM, AU, Security Concil, Somalia, UN
Readers Comments (2)
Somaliland
Somaliland-Ethiopia Relationship
Overpowering Gratitude Vs Vexing Misgivings By Ahmed I. Hassan Author’s Note: This is the chapter on Somaliland-Ethiopia Relationship in a book titled “Somaliland: The Legacies of Non-Recognition” which ...
SOMALIA: Turkish Airlines diverts to Nairobi after security scare in Mogadishu
MOGADISHU — A carrier operated by Turkish Airlines left its Somali passengers stranded in the wrong airport after landing in Kenya rather than their intended ...
UN envoy in Somalia concerned over violent clashes in Hargeisa
Photo: Special Representative Augustine Mahiga (UN Photo/Stuart Price) NAIROBI — The United Nations envoy in Somalia, Augustine P. Mahiga, today expressed concern over recent violent clashes ...
SOMALILAND: President urges citizens to uphold peace and stability
HARGEISA — The Somaliland National Independence day celebrations that was widely marked within and outside the country, had an added flavor when the State House grounds witnessed ...
SOMALILAND: Two Journalists join two others in prison
HARGEISA — Mohamed Abdi Omar and Khadar Farah Hussein, managing editor and reporter/cameraman, respectively, with the newspaper Yool newspaper, became the latest number of journalists ...
Your Say
Why not recognize independent Somaliland?
OPINION | MAY 22, 2012 By Ali Mohamed Twenty-one years ago this month, Somaliland was reborn when the tyrannical regime of Siad Barre collapsed. Since then, the ...
- Somaliland National day – for the sake of a decent life and principle of the future
- Somaliland media: Spreading the word
- SOMALILAND: Where is the Justice in our Justice System?
- Unionist are Dead — Long Live SOMALILAND
- Apprehending Ratco Mladic: a reminder of a war criminal working as jury
- Dr Jowhar: We lost a friend, a Hero
- GEESI LOO HANWEYNAA – A tribute to my hero Dr. Jowhar
- 10 Years after Timor’s Independence, Where Is the Justice?
- Why Hiil Qaran Party Will Not Have a Significant Impact on the Politics of Somalia
- Sunday 20 May: Join in Commemorating late Dr Jowhar
Dr. Abdishakur Jowhar-Franz Fanon of the Somali People
“He lit up a room. If you can imagine the sun, his face was like the sun, that smile, the arm around your shoulder. He ...
Somalia: Federalism, Division and The Dual Track Policy
OPINION | MAY 20, 2012 Photo: Alternative to federalism and Somaliland/Somalia ideology – the three branch Somalia (three branches of government in three different parts of ...
These UN Security members and the AU mission known as Amisom from the above as
reported by Reuters does not say anything about whether the idea of increasing the amisom
came from the TFG or Simply is the TFG a rubber stamp for foreign govts. to take charge of
the Somalia crisis in the absence of a functioning Govt. having power of at least certain no or yes
means!. I would welcome the Tfg President Sharif and his new PM Farmaajo to comment
on their stand as the Govt. of Somalia to confirm or reject the above UN security decision.I would also
welcome if the Somalia Public support the Amisom issues? Specially when already the Amisom
is shelling destroying killing and displacing the Civilian Population on a daily basis with disregard
of the TFG it supports and the human rights watch and so on and so forth.
Cheers.
More troops is not the answer. More troops would mean more civilian casualties. Many of the Al-Shabaab fighters are in it for the money. Instead of spending so much on more troops give the people jobs rather than line the pockets of those MPs who represent nobody but themselves.
The hardcore Al-Shabaab fighters would soon find they have no supporters from the general public if the people of Somalia are given the opportunity to rebuild their country. Already the Islamist extremist are grouped under clan loyalties.