Advertisement

Amisom weathers deadly Al Shabaab attacks

Saturday July 12 2014
EAsomalia

Suspected Al-Shabaab fighters are paraded at the Uganda Force Contingent headquarters in Mogadishu on February 28, 2014. AFP

The increased Al Shabaab attacks on Somali government figures and the African Union peacekeepers have raised concerns about the mission’s control of the war-torn nation.

After successful advances by the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) against the militants in Mogadishu and other areas such as Kismayu in the past two years, the presidential palace and parliament have been bombed several times and at least three Members of Parliament killed.

The Somali government said the militants have been hitting back after realising that Amisom and the Somali National Army are closing in on their rural strongholds, which form the base of their financing through illegal trade.

The 22,126 Amisom troops working alongside the Somali National Army and the Somali Police Force have so far liberated 10 key towns, including Mogadishu, but there is a growing concern that the militants are regaining ground and even infiltrating local security agencies.

Eloi Yao, an Amisom spokesman, said the mission has achieved its objectives, in spite of several challenges. He argued that Mogadishu and its environs have been freed from the ruthless reign of Al Shabaab, reconstruction is ongoing and businesses are flourishing.

“Since the liberation of Mogadishu, many flights are landing and taking off on a daily basis. For the first time in many years, the Federal Government of Somalia is collecting taxes and revenues. Many Somalis from the diaspora are returning to contribute to the development of their country,” said Mr Yao.

Advertisement

But as late as Tuesday last week, the militants attacked Villa Somalia once more as four militants tried to penetrate an office complex that houses various ministries, after which President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was forced to sack his police and intelligence chiefs.

The EastAfrican has gathered that one of the major reasons why Amisom is not gaining ground is that it takes time to establish local leadership structures to take control of captured territory.

Besides Mogadishu, other areas that have established local administrations include Jubbaland in Sector 2 under Kenya Defence Forces and Baidoa. Mr Yao, however, maintained that Amisom, the Federal Government of Somalia and partners have been working hard to ensure that there is no power vacuum in the liberated areas.

Operation Eagle four months ago liberated 10 key other areas from Al Shabaab and the government has been establishing local leadership in those areas.

He argued that there may be some deliberate delays to enable the forces to assess the situation in recovered areas and consolidate those gains before moving to the next phase of operations.

“Amisom is helping in training of civil servants in local administration and management. There are programmes where we send those civil servants to other troop-contributing countries like Sierra Leonne and Burundi, which have gone through similar situation so that they can learn the nuts and bolts of governance, and management in a post-conflict environment,” said Mr Yao.

Still, other sources in Amisom argue that the mission’s security objectives will only be achieved when all areas considered key have been recovered and Somalis are able to enjoy a relative peace, and the government has sovereign control over the entire territory of Somalia.

Despite Amisom arguing that it had well-developed exit plan once Somalia attains peace, regional security experts point out that it will only depend of the readiness of the Somali security agencies to take the lead on security issues in their own country.

Advertisement