AMISOM needs more troops - Gen. Katumba

By Raymond Baguma

The AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) fighting the al- Shabaab extremists has become a victim of its own success.

The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Katumba Wamala, has raised an alarm, saying capturing more territory from the al-Shabaab has widened AMISOM’s area of operation, which has over-stretched the troops.

He said there is need to raise the troop numbers from the current 17,731 to between 20,000 and 25,000 troops equipped with force multipliers and enablers in form of helicopters for aerial combat and evacuation.

Katumba added that the African Union should quickly intervene to address this issue. He was on Tuesday addressing journalists at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Mbuya. Katumba said with the current troop numbers, AMISOM cannot cover more ground without becoming more vulnerable to al-Shabaab.

He said after the attack in Nairobi, Uganda is prepared to counter any terrorism, with national security agencies working closely to respond to any threat.

Uganda and Burundi were the first countries to deploy troops in Somalia in March 2007. Presently, Uganda has about
7,000 troops under AMISOM.