100 Burundian Troops Deployed To Somalia

by Can Tran    December 23, 2007

The 100 strong force from Burundi flew into the heavily guarded airport in Mogadishu. It was hours after a clash between both the rebels and Ethiopian-backed government forces. Four people died as a result of the clashes. The 100 soldiers will join the 1,600 AU peacekeepers deployed by Uganda.

Eventually, the strength of 8,000 AU peacekeepers will be met. The other states of the African Union (AU) have been slow to offer troops amid the continuing conflict and violence plaguing the country.

According to Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza, spokesman for the Burundian army, this is just to prepare for the future deployment of an extra 1,700 soldiers to the region. Currently, the Ugandan forces have been restricted to guarding the sea ports, airports, presidential palace, and provision of security.

This is the result from the absence of reinforcements. The latest clash was at a former factory used as a base for Islamist militants.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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