UN APPROVES MORE TROOPS IN SOMALIA

New York, 9 Muharram 1435/13 November 2013 (MINA) – The UN Security Council has approved on Tuesday more troops for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) fighting armed groups.

The 15-member council – China is assuming the rotating presidency- adopted a resolution approving more than 4,000 troops for the AMISOM and logistic support from the UN to the Somali army.

With the adoption of the resolution the number of the UN troops will increase to over 22,000, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

On top of the troop increase, the Security Council resolution also allowed the deployment of a special guard force to protect the UN mission in Somalia, which has been the target of several suicide bomb attacks, Al Jazeera reports.

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UK sponsored the resolution. UK’s Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant said the AMISOM has played a huge role in weakening Somali armed group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked armed group.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on a Kenyan mall in September that killed more than 60 people.

Troops are drawn from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya. Ethiopia, which has previously sent troops to Somalia, has said it is considering putting its own separate force in the Horn of Africa nation under the command of AMISOM, or African Union Mission in Somalia.

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The extra troops are expected to start arriving in early 2014, diplomats said.

The media added AMISOM backs Somali government forces who have forced al-Shabab fighters out of key cities over the past 18 months.(T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)