African Union set for new Al-Shabaab

 

The first African Union contingent from Djibouti arrive at Mogadishu’s Adan Ade international airport on December 20, 2011 as the latest country to deploy troops in Somalia. The AU is in talks over a unified military strategy. PHOTO | AFP

By ARGAW ASHINE | Africa Review
Jan 04, 2012

The African Union is set to launch a new integrated military strategy to fight the Al-Shabaab extremist group in Somalia.

Defence ministers and army chiefs of six East African countries are scheduled to meet Wednesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to discuss the proposed new approach to tackling the Islamist group.

The AU's Peace and Security commissioner Ambassador Ramaten Lamamra said the consultation meeting would go over the unified plan which had been prepared by experts.

Ambassador Lamamra said he was however constrained to explain in detail the content of the proposed strategy as it was a classified working document.

Defence ministers and army chiefs from the troop contributing countries-- Ethiopia, Djibouti Kenya Burundi, Somalia and Uganda-- will take part in the final consultation on the plan.

Sources who participated in the preparation of the document said the military strategy would task each country with different zones and aimed at avoiding contradictions in the military interventions.

Funding hopes

The AU also hopes to get more funding from the United Nations and other Western countries to implement the proposed military plan.

Last month, Kenya, which is is fighting the Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, requested to integrate its armed force with the AU-flagged AMISOM peacekeepers.

Source: African Review