EA countries get more US aid for fighting Al-Shabaab

The US is escalating its military involvement in Somalia with a recent drone strike against Islamist insurgents and the provision of nearly $50 million in new military aid to Uganda and Burundi, the countries that make up the African Union fighting force inside Somalia.

In further US moves to bolster allies in East Africa, Kenya is set to receive $12 million for helicopter upgrades and training. Djibouti, the host of a large US military base, will get $17.7 million for aircraft.

This outlay for East African countries, part of a $145.4 million global counterterrorism package, highlights the Obama administration’s continued determination to defeat the Al-Shabaab insurgency in Somalia.

The US will also deploy four hand-launched drones for reconnaissance purposes in Somalia. These Raven drones, which weigh only two kilogrammes and can fly for up to 90 minutes, are being given to Uganda and Burundi as part of the counter-terrorism package.

Pentagon officials contacted by The EastAfrican declined to comment on this matter. But a State Department official said the US views Al-Shabaab as “a continuing threat to East Africa and US interests in the region.” The official recalled that Shabaab suicide bombers had killed 76 people in Kampala a year ago.

Washington has previously supplied hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and to the African Union’s military mission in Somalia (Amisom). But this new infusion of aid is going only to neighbouring countries and not to the TFG itself — perhaps reflecting US expressions of frustration with the TFG’s performance.

The equipment being supplied to Uganda and Burundi includes body armour, night-vision gear, communications devices, generators, heavy-construction machinery and surveillance apparatus. Training for the use of the equipment is to be provided as well.

The Raven drones apparently do not carry weapons, but the US-Africa Command (Africom) announced two years ago that it was using MQ-9 Reaper drones, which have an armed capability to track suspected pirate ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.

That initiative, carried out from a base in the Seychelles, came to an end in the spring of 2010, according to an Africom spokesman. The Reaper drones were not armed and were part of a US-Seychelles collaborative effort to determine the feasibility of using drones in support of security operations in East Africa, the spokesman added.

“While we can’t get into specifics, we view the operation as successful,” ” he told The EastAfrican.

Three other African countries believed vulnerable to militants’ operations are also receiving equipment as part of the Pentagon’s latest counter-terrorism disbursement.

Mauritania is set to get $22.6 million for a troop transport and surveillance plane, along with requisite training and maintenance. Another $8.1 million is being given to the North African country to develop a forward operating base intended to help thwart Al-Qaeda militants active in parts of Mauritania.

Mali is receiving $1 million in mine-detection equipment. And the Maldives will get $12 million for small boats and communications equipment.