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Somalia: The peacekeeping contingent might rise to 20,000

By on July 16, 2010
The size of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia will be increased from 4,300 to 20,000 troops, Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has announced at a news conference.

This increase would be discussed at the next summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), comprising Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda, aiming a regional cooperation in areas of common interest of the Member States.
If such agreement could be concluded in the framework of the IGAD, then the peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) will be strengthened. The President revealed that his country intends to launch in Uganda and Somalia offensives against al Shabaab, the rebel Somali armed faction responsible for the bombings occurred last Sunday in Kampala.
Uganda and Burundi are the only countries to have sent troops to the peacekeeping force in Somalia, and security experts have indicated that the number of 8,000 men demanded by the A.U cannot meet the needs of the current situation in Somalia and have advanced the idea of deploying 27,000 men in this country.

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