By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia has taken the delivery of 24 armored personnel carriers donated by the US government to boost the fight against the al-Shabab militant group in the country.
The handover of the vehicles which took place on Thursday in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu was attended by US Ambassador to Somalia Larry Andrè and senior officials of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
The specialized vehicles will be used by the AU Djiboutian contingent in joint military operations with the Somali National Army (SNA) in and around Beledweyne — the capital of Somalia’s central region of Hiran.
Ambassador Andrè said the armoured personnel carriers, APCs will protect troops against roadside bombs.
“The expression of our support, amongst other ways, is the donation of these vehicles to help protect African Union forces–in this case Djibouti’s military contingent–as they travel the roads of Somalia which too often will be trapped by dangerous explosive devices put there to harm those who only seek to help Somalia,” he said.
A top African Union official, Fiona Lortan, said the military hardware had arrived at the right time as the mission is reconfiguring its troops and equipment.
“On behalf of the African Union, its membership, and all the ATMIS troop contributing countries, including Djibouti and all the others since ATMIS is a collective effort of solidarity and support to the Somalia people, I would like to thank the government and the people of the United States for the generosity and steadfastness in supporting our presence in Somalia,” said Lortan.
Al-Qaida affiliated al-Shabab has been fighting Somalia’s government and AU peacekeepers in Somalia for 15 years, seeking to install a strict Islamist state like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In May, the group attacked an ATMIS base in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, using suicide bombers detonating three cars filled with explosives.
The military support by the US comes as Somalia’s new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, announced that he is determined to wage war against al-Shabab militarily, as well as on economic and ideological grounds.
In May, US President Joe Biden authorized re-deployment of US troops to Somalia to help fight the militants. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, pulled around 700 American troops from the east African country during the final month of his presidency.
