African Union troops called on Tuesday for the deployment of 3 000 more soldiers to secure the wartorn Somali capital after the greater part of the rebel forces occupying famine-struck Mogadishu pulled out at the weekend.
“Our forces now have to cover a much larger area of the city, and we risk being overstretched,” said Major General Fred Mugisha, the Ugandan commander of the 9 000-strong AU Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
“I appeal to our international partners — on whom we rely — to expedite the deployment of the 3 000 extra troops.”
Mugisha called for the troops — authorised last December by the UN Security Council — to be deployed “as a matter of urgency”.
Somalia’s government has offered an amnesty to the rebels still fighting in Mogadishu.
“We offer an amnesty — put down your weapons and your guns, and come and join the people and your society,” government spokesman Abdirahman Osman said.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab rebels, who had controlled around half of the city, abandoned key Mogadishu positions on Saturday, saying they were employing a change of military tactics.
However, clashes have continued between Amisom forces and rebel remnants in the capital.
“The extremists have however not withdrawn completely,” Mugisha said, estimating that up to 95% of Mogadishu “has been liberated, creating areas for starving people to access food aid.”
“The city is not as calm as we would like it to be,” he added.
Amisom is currently made up of troops from Uganda and Burundi. — AFP