The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, on Tuesday called for more troops to help hold Mogadishu after the departure of militant Islamist group al-Shabaab.
“We need more troops to take and secure Mogadishu fully ... right now we have only 9,000 troops and the UN has approved 3,000 extra troops to deploy, but their logistics and deployment funds are not available currently,” AMISOM spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda told Somalia Report. “I call on the UN to facilitate the extra 3,000 troops immediately in order to secure all Mogadishu districts.”
While al-Shabaab has deserted its bases, pockets of fighters have been left behind and many locations have been booby-trapped. The insurgents are also expected to rely more on urban guerrilla tactics, with suicide bombs, IEDs and ambushes expected to rise.
The AMISOM force commander said even though the retreat appeared to have been deliberate and coordinated, it had been forced by the pressure created by recent gains made by the Somali National Army with the support of his troops. “They did not abandon Mogadishu of their own free will,” he said.
“The extremists have however not withdrawn completely,” Force Commander Maj. Gen. Fred Mugisha said, highlighting there were significant forces particularly near the pasta factory and north east of the stadium. “90-95% of Mogadishu has been liberated, creating areas for starving people to access food aid, but the city is not as calm as we would like it to be.”
Mugisha said that even the current mandate of 12,000 would not necessarily be enough (the AU and Uganda last year called for 20,000 troops) and called for air and sea support.
“We are working round the clock to help Somalis to pick up the pieces of their lives and we certainly need more than 12,000 troops mandated by the UN Security Council to create an enabling environment for the provision of aid,” he said.
“Our forces now have to cover a much larger area of the city and we risk being overstretched,” he added. “I appeal to our international partners – on whom we rely - to expedite the deployment of the 3,000 extra troops already authorized by the Security Council as a matter of urgency, so we achieve the mandated force strength of 12,000.”