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Mogadishu, Somalia, June 16, 2012 – AU troops are spreading out beyond
Mogadishu in the fight against al-Shabaab, possibly jeopardizing
security in the capital. Troops from the African Union (AU) force AMISOM
are spreading out of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu as they seize ground in
the surrounding area.
The African forces, largely made up of Ugandans and Burundians,
previously confined their operations to Mogadishu, but have now extended
out to a radius of 20-30 km and are expected to be deployed as far as 90
km outside the capital city.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda, spokesperson of AU
forces, most of the 12,000 AU forces that were carrying out patrols and
cordon and search operations in Mogadishu are now in Elasha-Bihiya,
Afgoye and Maslah, newly-captured from the militant Islamist group
al-Shabaab.
The departure of AU forces, however, could lead to greater insecurity in
Mogadishu itself and the city’s vulnerability could grow as it is
increasingly left in the hands of poorly trained Somali police. Although
the capture of the strategic town of Afgoye cuts off al-Shabaab’s direct
links with the capital, insurgents could take advantage of strained
forces to carry out unconventional attacks such as suicide attacks and
car bombs inside the government-controlled territory. Somalia’s
Transitional Federal Government, with the help of Europe and the US, has
trained an additional 3,000 police forces to cover Mogadishu and its
suburbs, but some fear this may not be sufficient.
Nevertheless, the spreading out of AU forces does mark AMISOM’s recent
successes in defeating al-Shabaab in former strongholds and Brigadier
Paul Lokech, commander of the Ugandan contingent of AMISOM, assured
Somalis that they will be carrying out surprise “mop-up” operations to
help the Somali police.
The Mogadishu-Afgoye road
AMISOM forces are now digging trenches and banks to protect their
newly-captured towns against al-Shabaab retaliation. Al-Shabaab has
threatened revenge but it is not clear how they are going to respond.
“We know their usual tactics” Brigadier Lokech told Think Africa Press,
“They either drive vehicles loaded with explosives into our defense or
carry out ambushes”.
The change of the terrain from heavily built-up places like Mogadishu to
the open lands around Afgoye, however, may hinder the militants’
attempts as they will be more easily detected from a distance and
vulnerable to attack by tanks and long range artillery.
Al-Shabaab is therefore likely to intensify ambushes on the Mogadishu-Afgoye
road. Many supplies, including food, reach Mogadishu via Afgoye so
interruptions in trade could result from al-Shabaab ambushes. It was
also along this road that Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was
ambushed on May 29 as he travelled back to Mogadishu from visiting newly
captured areas. Somali soldiers who carry out routine patrols on this
road have frequently suffered ambushes by al-Shabaab. And as a result of
fighting along the 30km stretch between Mogadishu and Afgoye, many
people have now abandoned the area.
Hunting al-Shabaab
The fall of these areas to AMISOM has led to renewed hopes that the
insurgents can be defeated. In a bid to bolster efforts, the US
government recently announced several rewards of millions of dollars for
information leading to the capture of seven specific al-Shabaab leaders.
Meanwhile, AMISOM’s Ugandan forces have vowed to follow al-Shabaab
wherever they go.
According to Brigadier Lokech, AU forces now intend to advance from
Afgoye to Merca, 90 km southwest of Mogadishu, to where al-Shabaab
fighters have retreated. Lokech admitted, however, that this will be a
big challenge without the right equipment such as helicopters.
“If you look at the distance from Mogadishu to Merca it is 90 km. Now,
if you get casualties, what happens? Are you going to drive the injured
soldiers 90 km to save lives? You can’t. But if you had helicopters,
within 30 minutes, you will already be in Mogadishu,” he said. The only
medical facilities for the peacekeepers are in Mogadishu.
Lokech has therefore appealed to the United Nations Support Office for
AMISOM, which gives logistical support to the mission, to deploy greater
airpower to the forces. The helicopters would also be used to attack the
fleeing al-Shabaab fighters and allow AU forces to advance faster to
targeted areas.
Coordinated efforts
In the bid to defeat al-Shabaab, troops from various African nations
have been given specific tasks in the overarching mission: Uganda
commands the mission and is in charge of operations and engineering;
Kenya is responsible for intelligence and logistics; and Burundi is in
charge of planning and communication. Djibouti, which recently joined,
is also doing the smaller-scale task of helping with training while
Sierra Leone (yet to deploy) will be involved in civil-military
cooperation.
It is hoped that coordinated AU efforts will be sufficient to pacify
al-Shabaab and create enough security by July, when Somalis are
scheduled to go to the polls to elect a new government.
Source: Think Africa Press
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