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| Africa Horn |
| Mogadishu escalation looms after Kampala blasts |
| 2010-07-18 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] Deadly attacks in Kampala turned the battle for Mogadishu into a regional affair this week, with the al Shabaab warning the world to stay out and Uganda urging more support from its neighbours. Somalia's al Qaeda-inspired rebels struck the Ugandan capital on July 11, killing at least 73 people watching the World Cup final in multiple blasts, in what they said was retaliation for Uganda's military presence in Mogadishu. But far from being bullied into pulling out of the African force (Amisom) it spearheads, Uganda called for steelier regional resolve to crush the al Shabaab-led insurgency and rescue Somalia's beleaguered transitional government. "We were just in Mogadishu to guard the port, the airport and the State House. Now they have mobilised us to look for them," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in the aftermath of the blasts. The Ugandan army said it was ready to provide 2,000 troops to top the more than 3,000 it has deployed in Mogadishu since 2007 and bring Amisom to its full authorised strength of 8,100. "We are capable of providing the required force if other countries fail to do so," army spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP. The regional body Igad had earlier this month pledged to send the missing 2,000 troops in a bid to enable Amisom to withstand an insurgent offensive threatening Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's tenuous grip on power. Few countries other than Uganda had looked likely to contribute to the force in one of the world's most dangerous cities. |
| Posted by:Fred |