Ugandan soldiers landed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, the first African Union peacekeepers to arrive in the city where the interim government and its Ethiopian allies face almost daily guerrilla attacks.
Sixteen Ugandan soldiers were aboard the unmarked Russian-made Antonov cargo plane that flew into Mogadishu’s international airport. The plane was also carrying three military vehicles painted white and emblazoned with AU markings.
”The AU troops from Uganda have landed and some more are coming,” Mohammed Ali Faum, the AU’s special representative to Somalia, told Reuters at the airport.
The Ugandans are the vanguard of an AU force designed to help Somalia’s interim government secure the Horn of Africa country.
The AU force, proposed to eventually number about 8 000, is expected to replace Ethiopian troops who helped the government mount a successful December offensive against an Islamist group that seized power over most of southern Somalia for six months.
Officials from President Abdullahi Yusuf’s government and warlords who had once ruled Mogadishu were at the airport, which was under heavy security.
Two more planes were expected later in the day, Somali officials said.
Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Burundi are also expected to send troops to join the AU force.
Somalia has been in a state of anarchy since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. A well-funded United States-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the mid-1990s ended in failure and a bloody withdrawal.
The Ugandans are due to patrol Mogadishu, one of the world’s most dangerous and gun-infested cities.
Guerrillas who mount almost daily attacks on joint government-Ethiopian forces in Mogadishu have threatened to attack any peacekeepers or government allies.
The guerrillas are suspected to be a mix of Islamists and clan militiamen fighting for control of the city.
As with a peacekeeping foray in Sudan’s violent Darfur region, the AU is facing a shortage of money and equipment. – Reuters 2007