SOMALI SOLDIERS DESERT TO AL-QAIDA LINKED MILITANT
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with U.S. tax dollars have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage, and some have even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting.
The desertions raise fears that a new U.S.-backed effort beginning next month to build up Somalia's army may only increase the ranks of the insurgency.
Source: AP
The desertions raise fears that a new U.S.-backed effort beginning next month to build up Somalia's army may only increase the ranks of the insurgency.
- Somalia's besieged U.N.-backed government holds only a few blocks of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, while Islamic insurgents control the rest of the city and most of the country. That turmoil — and the lawless East African nation's proximity to Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is based — has fed fears that Somalia could be used to launch attacks on the West.
- In an effort to rebuild the tattered Somali military, the United States helped fund a training program for nearly 1,000 soldiers in neighboring Djibouti last year, Western diplomats told the AP. The French-trained troops were supposed to earn $100 a month, but about half of them deserted because they were not paid, Somali army Col. Ahmed Aden Dhayow said.
- "Some gave up the army and returned to their ordinary life and others joined the rebels," he said.
- Somalia's state minister for defense, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, confirmed some trainees had joined the al-Shabab militants, but he declined to specify the number of deserters.
- The development highlights a key problem facing efforts to rebuild the bankrupt nation's army — guaranteeing funding for soldiers' salaries, not just their training.
- Failure to resolve the pay issue could threaten the success of a U.S. and European Union training program beginning in Uganda next month that has been touted as the biggest effort to rebuild the army in 20 years.
- Funding for the Somali army is a complex affair involving contributions from donor nations, the U.N. and the Somali government. Individual countries sometimes pledge to cover salaries for a limited number of soldiers for a few months, and when the money runs out, salaries don't get paid.
- The U.S. has provided $2 million to pay Somali soldiers and purchase supplies and equipment in Mogadishu since 2007, according to the State Department. Another $12 million went toward transport, uniforms and equipment, but the U.S. has declined to say how much of that paid for training.
- During a recent AP visit, dejected-looking soldiers sat under dust-covered thorn trees at the government's main military base, Camp Jazira, which lacks toilets, a clinic or even a perimeter fence. They had not been paid, some for months, they said, adding that their wages were intercepted by senior officials.
AL SHABAB GROUP THREATEN ALL SOMALIA
Tens of thousands of people have fled fighting in Mogadishu since the beginning of May
Somalia's new foreign minister has warned that the al-Shabab group is controlling the fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, and poses a threat to the entire country.
Mohamed Abullahi Omaar told reporters on Friday that Somalia lacks proper resources to tackle the group, noting that it would not be so hard to defeat if the government had access to the necessary technology and supplies.
"We have the men. We have the intelligence. We have the knowledge. We know the terrain. We know the politics. We know the clans. We know the leaders," Omaar said. "What we need are the resources."
Al-Shabab, in alliance with the Hizbul Islam group, has vowed to topple the government of Sharif Ahmed, the president, and has stepped up attacks in recent weeks.
About 200 people have been killed in a surge in violence this month and tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting in the capital.
The situation in Somalia is further complicated because pirates in and around the Gulf of Aden are preventing much needed goods and supplies from getting through, including rice and pharmaceuticals.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
Mohamed Abullahi Omaar told reporters on Friday that Somalia lacks proper resources to tackle the group, noting that it would not be so hard to defeat if the government had access to the necessary technology and supplies.
"We have the men. We have the intelligence. We have the knowledge. We know the terrain. We know the politics. We know the clans. We know the leaders," Omaar said. "What we need are the resources."
Al-Shabab, in alliance with the Hizbul Islam group, has vowed to topple the government of Sharif Ahmed, the president, and has stepped up attacks in recent weeks.
About 200 people have been killed in a surge in violence this month and tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting in the capital.
The situation in Somalia is further complicated because pirates in and around the Gulf of Aden are preventing much needed goods and supplies from getting through, including rice and pharmaceuticals.
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
WAR TORN SOMALIA CONTINUE FIGHITING
Somali and AU forces view a destroyed vehicle which was loaded with explosives to target an African Union, AU, peacekeepers base in the capital, Mogadishu, Somalia
At least 13 people have been killed and 30 others injured in clashes between government troops and opposition fighters in the Somali capital Mogadishu.Witnesses said that fighting broke out on Tuesday after an armed group attacked police and African Union peacekeepers in the capital's southern Taleh district.
The fighting came a day after Sharif Ahmed, Somalia's newly elected president, returned to the country from Djibouti.Witnesses said that heavy machine guns and artillery were used in Tuesday's fighting and that the fighters shelled the presidential palace.
Several residents said that two civilians had been hit by stray bullets near the scene of clashes and three others were killed when a mortar shell struck a house.
A medical official said that more than 20 wounded people had been transferred to the city's Medina hospital.The clashes follow Sunday's suicide bomb attack on an AU base in the Somali capital, which left 11 Burundi soldiers dead.
The bombilng, which was claimed by the al-Shabab armed group, was the deadliest so far against the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
Somalia’s militant al-Shabab group has promised to launch more attack
s against African Union peacekeeping troops a day after 11 soldiers from Burundi were killed in blasts claimed by the group.On an Internet website, al-Shabab posted pictures of the two young men it says were responsible for Sunday’s deadly attack on the Mogadishu compound housing peacekeepers from Burundi.
Somalia has been plagued by conflict for the past 18 years and Islamist insurgents have been fighting the government for over two years. More than 16,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007 and 1 million uprooted from their homes.
Courtesy : Al Jazeera...
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
