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Mogadishu, Somalia, July 28, 2012 – The UK has established a small
military presence in Somalia, the British Ministry of Defence has
confirmed.
A team of 10 military advisers is based at the headquarters of the
African Union force in the capital, Mogadishu.
They do not have a combat role; their job is to help the AU with
planning, communications and medical support.
But a BBC correspondent says some of the advisers have been seen in
Afgoye, a strategic town west of the capital recently taken from
Islamist militants.
The al-Shabaab group, which joined al-Qaeda earlier this year, still
controls many rural areas in southern and central Somalia but is under
pressure on several fronts.
The country has been without a functioning central authority since 1991
and has been wracked by fighting ever since - a situation that has
allowed piracy and lawlessness to flourish.
Key moment
"We have sent a small team of advisers to assist the AU peacekeeping
mission. They do not have a combat role," an MoD spokesman said in a
statement.
BBC world affairs correspondent Peter Biles says the confirmation of a
British military presence in Somalia comes at a key moment in the
efforts towards a political transition.
The UN-backed interim government is supposed to hand over to a new
administration by 20 August when a new president and parliament will be
elected.
Our correspondent says it is hoped that this will end the corruption and
misappropriation of funds that have tarnished the reputation of the
current Somali authorities.
Ethiopian troops, pro-government militias and the African Union force -
which has US and European funding and was boosted earlier this year to
nearly 18,000 - have helped the transitional government recently expand
its control outside Mogadishu.
In the last few months, the militants have lost several key positions,
including Afgoye, Baidoa in central Somalia and the southern town of
Afmadow.
Source: BBC
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