Burundi's defense minister says 1,700 troops available to deploy to Somalia, but lack equipment

BUJUMBURA, Burundi, 17 Febuary 2007 - Burundi has 1,700 troops available to deploy to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force, but they need more equipment, the defense minister said Saturday.

Lt. Gen. Germain Niyoyankana said an additional 100 officers were also ready to serve as observers and that an advance team would visit Mogadishu on Feb. 23.

"It is a promise we made and the troops are ready, but so far we face a problem of equipment," he said.

Burundi has 50 soldiers and police officers deployed as part of an AU peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region.

The fate of the AU mission to Somalia, remains unclear as daily violence escalates with unidentified gunmen firing mortars and rockets at Ethiopian and government troops in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

Late Friday night, one civilian was killed and 11 wounded when seven mortar shells hit a refugee camp in south Mogadishu. Ethiopian troops, which intervened in Somalia in December to protect the weak government, have set up a base near the refugee camp.

Ethiopia wants to withdraw its forces, but has been waiting for African peacekeepers to arrive to prevent a power vacuum that could plunge the country back into chaos.

Somali officials blame the attacks on the remnants of an Islamic movement that tried to take over the country before Ethiopian troops routed them.

The AU has said it needs 8,000 troops for a mission to Somalia, but so far only Burundi and Uganda, which has promised 1,500 soldiers, have agreed to join the mission.

Source: AP

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives