UN chief: Somalia could still fail; calls for more attack helicopters to
fight Al-Shabab
By Associated Press,
September 5, 2013
UNITED NATIONS - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, warning that Somalia could
slide back into being a failed state, called Tuesday on countries around the
world to provide the African Union-led peacekeeping force there with attack
helicopters and armored troop carriers to take the fight to Al-Shabab
militants in the field.
The U.N. chief called on U.N. members, including African countries not yet
involved, to provide the African Union-led peacekeeping force with attack
helicopters, armored troop carries and other support to root out the
al-Qaida-allied Al-Shabab.
"The political, security and development gains made so far in Somalia are
still reversible," Ban said in a report to the Security Council. The
al-Qaida-allied terrorist group Al-Shabab "continues to undermine security
throughout the country, including in Mogadishu."
"Allowing Al-Shabab to continue its training and conduct terrorist
activities from bases in Somalia will not only undermine peace in Somalia,
but also that of the wider region," he said.
The AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia - known as AMISOM - is endorsed by
the U.N. Security Council and is meant to pave the way for an eventual U.N.
peacekeeping force. It is led by Ugandan officers, and also has large Kenya
and Burundi contingents. It has more than 17,000 troops.
The United Nations has especially been stung since Al-Shabab attacked the
U.N. compound in Mogadishu on June 19, killing a U.N. Development Program
staffer, thee U.N. contractors, four Somali guards and at least six Somali
bystanders. It was the first direct attack on a U.N. building in Somalia
since 2008.
Since then, the international aid group Doctors Without Borders has pulled
out of Somalia, citing increasing dangers there.
Somalia has long been plagued by cyclical drought and famine and decades of
armed conflict. But in recent years it has been seen as making strides in
security and governance, particularly since August 2011, when
al-Qaida-aligned militants were forced out of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabab militants still control much of the country's south.
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Received on Thu Sep 05 2013 - 20:14:12 EDT