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Khakis, August 14, 2008
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Mogadishu, Somalia (HOL) – The Nigerian government announced that it will send 850 peacekeepers to Somalia within a week to participate in Amisom mission in Mogadishu.General Emeka Onwuamaegbu who is a senior member of Nigeria’s military told reporters that his country will send troops to Somalia. He said that the troops are in the final days of preparations for the mission. General Onwuamaegbu added that the troops they will send to Somalia include senior officers and that they will reinforce the Amisom troops already in Somalia.
Nigeria sent peacekeepers to other African countries that are experiencing political turmoil and humanitarian crisis such as the Darfur region in Sudan, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is also one of the most powerful in Africa militarily.
Amisom troops from Uganda and Burundi totaling 2,200 are already present in Somalia. There is also large number of Ethiopian troops whose exact number is not known. Ethiopian troops came to Somalia to support the weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia.
AU countries promised to send peacekeepers in Somalia numbering 8,000 but so far Uganda and Burundi sent troops. Nigeria’s 850 troops will make it the third country to fulfill the promise to send peacekeepers to Somalia.
Amisom troops currently in Somalia are, however, facing fierce armed struggle and deadly fighting between the two is common in Mogadishu and in other parts of Southern Somalia. Opposition groups are opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Somalia as well as the TFG which they see as a government that has lost moral authority to govern the country.
Additional contribution by Mohamed Amin Ahmed, Hiiraan Online
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