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Kampala, December 05 2009 — The head of the African
Union's troubled Somalia peacekeeping force expressed frustration on
Wednesday at the failure of countries to honor troop commitments.
Speaking in Uganda, one of only two nations to have contributed troops
to the AMISOM force, Wafula Wamunyinyi said the threat posed by Islamist
insurgents had been exaggerated, scaring off countries from deployments.
"We feel really frustrated and let down that several African nations
have not honored their commitment to send troops, but the media have
made it difficult for them to deploy," said Wamunyinyi, AMISOM's acting
chief.
"And nobody seems to appreciate the AMISOM has accomplished a lot," he
said at the press conference in Kampala where military chiefs and other
AU officials are meeting on ways to boost the force.
AMISOM, which was first deployed to the lawless Horn of Africa nation in
March 2007, currently comprises some 5,000 Burundian and Ugandan troops,
well short of the intended target of 8,000.
Nigeria has said on several occasions that it had troops ready to
deploy, but has not so far sent any. Ghana and Malawi committed to
sending troops just after the force was deployed while Rwanda has also
said it would send troops.
At least 60 peacekeepers have been killed in relentless attacks by the
Islamist insurgents since they deployed.
The Al-Qaeda-inspired Shabaab movement, which has carried out the bulk
of the attacks since a group of Islamists was forced out of Mogadishu in
December 2006, were recently joined in their insurgency by the Hezb
al-Islam militia.
Source: AFP, December 03, 2009
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