Uganda Forces Takes Over Mogadishu

Mogadishu, Somalia, March 20, 2007 – Ugandan troops working under the African Union peacekeeping command have taken over security posts in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The Daily Monitor reports Deputy Defense Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said the takeover was necessary ahead of the arrival of a second contingent of peacekeepers from another African country.

"As we talk now, the UPDF has finished taking over security of the entire capital city in a process that started three days ago," Nankabirwa said. "All our troops and equipment are finally in Somalia, and this marks the beginning of the major operation."

About 1,500 UPDF peacekeepers were deployed to Mogadishu to aid Somalia's struggling transitional government.

Last December, Ethiopian troops entered Somalia and helped orchestrate the governmental forces in Somalia via expelling militia connected to the Islamic Courts Union.

Nigeria , Burundi, Malawi and Ghana have also pledged to send forces to aid the Somalian government.

U.N. agencies in Somalia said more than 40,000 people fled Mogadishu in February.

However, the deputy head of the Somalia police, Gen.Umar Hasan Bashir, said the government is expected to take back full control of Mogadishu in the next 14 days.

"We will have 100 percent control of Mogadishu for the National Reconciliation Congress to take place," Bashir said, according to the Daily Monitor.

The reconciliation conference is scheduled to bring all warring clans and militias together in a two-month period.

Source: All Headline News (AHN)