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Friday, February 20, 2009
LAGOS (Reuters) - The situation in Somalia has deteriorated since Nigeria first agreed to send peacekeepers and the West African nation is still assessing when to deploy them, its defence minister was quoted as saying on Friday.
Many countries have been reluctant to send troops to bolster the African Union peacekeeping force, AMISOM, in the Horn of Africa nation, where two years of fighting have killed more than 16,000 civilians and driven a million from their homes.
"When Nigeria committed herself to sending troops in 2006 or thereabout, it was for peacekeeping, because the situation then could be handled," Nigerian Defence Minister Shettima Mustapha was quoted as saying by the Vanguard newspaper.
"But over the years, the situation has changed ... What we have are various groups controlling several areas. It means you will fight to enforce peace there. So if you go there, you will be fighting several groups," he said.
A Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed the remarks.
The election of Somalia's first Islamist president last month has raised hopes that the nation might finally emerge from 18 years of violence.
But hardline Islamists have declared war on the new government and attack the peacekeepers regularly. Burundian troops in the capital came under fire from insurgents on Friday.
The Nigerian military said in August a battalion of 850 officers and soldiers hoped to leave within weeks. But the deployment has been repeatedly delayed.
Nicolas Bwakira, the AU special representative for Somalia, said this month that AMISOM -- which has about 3,500 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi -- needed to be reinforced fast.
AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said in December that Nigeria's president had confirmed that one Nigerian battalion would be sent to Somalia in the near future. Uganda and Burundi have also pledged to beef up their existing forces there.
The contribution from Nigeria -- which has sent peacekeepers into several war zones in the past around Africa, including Sudan's Darfur region, Sierra Leone and Liberia -- would still leave the AU force far below its planned size of 8,000 troops.
"The Ministry of Defence is assessing the situation on the ground to be able to advise the president because the situation has changed," Mustapha said. (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Clarke and Elizabeth Piper).
Source: Reuters, Feb 20, 2009