African Union Joined by Ugandans in Effort to Control Mogadishu

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The 6,100-strong African Union force that is trying to reassert government control over Somalia’s capital has been joined by hundreds of Ugandan soldiers and a battalion from Burundi will soon arrive, the AU said.

Somalia’s Western-backed government, which is locked in battle with Islamic insurgent groups that include al-Shabaab and Hisbul-ul-Islam, controls only a few parts of Mogadishu, such as the presidential palace, the airport and the cargo port.

“With the new troops we are hoping we are going to expand further,” Wafula Wamunyinyi, deputy head of the AU mission in Somalia, told reporters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, today. Amisom, as the mission is known, aims to drive the rebels out of Mogadishu and then the entire country, he said. The Uganda units began arriving on Aug. 20.Read More