The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday boosted by nearly one half an African
Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, seeking to press home a military offensive
against Islamist rebels in the Horn of Africa country.
A resolution increasing the AMISOM force to 17,731 from 12,000 troops and
police passed the council unanimously on the eve of an international conference
in London to discuss measures to tackle instability in Somalia and piracy off
its shores.
AMISOM has until now consisted of Ugandan and Burundian troops. The new
increase to a large extent is accounted for by bringing under its command
Kenyan forces that entered Somalia independently last October to fight the al
Shabaab rebels, blamed by Nairobi for attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil.
Other troops are expected to be brought in from Djibouti, diplomats said, to
bolster AMISOM, which although not a U.N. force receives authorization and much
of its funding from the United Nations.
The force, which first entered Somalia in 2007, has claimed a series of
recent successes against al Shabaab's fighters who had seized much of the east
African country's center and south. Last August, AMISOM wrested control of the
capital, Mogadishu.
In a further setback for the rebels, Ethiopian and Somali forces on
Wednesday captured the key stronghold of Baidoa in central Somalia. Ethiopian
troops moved into Somalia in November but will not come under AMISOM and are
expected to withdraw eventually, diplomats said.
Somalia collapsed into feuding between rival warlords, clans and factions
after dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Its weak Western-backed
interim government controls only limited areas.
Wednesday's resolution will increase the U.N. cost of supporting AMISOM from
$250 million to around $550 million a year, not counting salaries for the
soldiers, which are covered by the European Union, British Ambassador Mark
Lyall Grant said.
He told reporters it would also give AMISOM a freer hand in its campaign.
"For the first time it authorizes AMISOM to use all necessary means to
reduce the threat from al Shabaab, and therefore to conduct more robust and
offensive operations," said Lyall Grant, whose country sponsored the
resolution.
The resolution also bans the export of charcoal from Somalia, a major source
of funding for al Shabaab.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and envoys from India and South Africa expressed
disappointment that the resolution did not cover a naval element for AMISOM.
But Lyall Grant said fuel for four Kenyan vessels operating off Somalia's
cost would be funded and their crews included in AMISOM, and only
"ancillary costs in terms of wear and tear" would not be covered.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please restrict your comment to the subject matter.