Ugandans leading al-Shabaab
Aug 25, 2011
SOME commanders of the al-Shabaab militants fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia are Ugandans, the UPDF spokesperson, Lt Col. Felix Kulayigye, has said.
By Pascal Kwesiga
SOME commanders of the al-Shabaab militants fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia are Ugandans, the UPDF spokesperson, Lt Col. Felix Kulayigye, has said.
The revelation comes a few weeks after the AMISOM peacekeepers and TFG forces captured Mogadishu from the al-Shabaab group. The al-Shabaab is formally a military wing of the deposed Islamic Court Union that controlled central and southern Somalia in 2006.
Kulayigye told heads of diplomatic missions and religious leaders from Africa that the militants commanding al-Shabaab were not Somalis, but Ugandans, Pakistanis and others from Arab countries.
This, he said, had complicated the conflict that had been raving since the fall of Siad Barre’s government in 1991.
Kulayigye was speaking during a conference organised by a united religions initiative at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Tuesday.
Ugandan and Burundian troops make up the 9,000 strong AU peacekeeping force protecting the beleaguered government.
Kulayigye blasted some Western countries that he said were calling for early elections following the relative peace in Mogadishu. He said the political situation in Somalia was still too volatile for polls.
SOME commanders of the al-Shabaab militants fighting to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia are Ugandans, the UPDF spokesperson, Lt Col. Felix Kulayigye, has said.
The revelation comes a few weeks after the AMISOM peacekeepers and TFG forces captured Mogadishu from the al-Shabaab group. The al-Shabaab is formally a military wing of the deposed Islamic Court Union that controlled central and southern Somalia in 2006.
Kulayigye told heads of diplomatic missions and religious leaders from Africa that the militants commanding al-Shabaab were not Somalis, but Ugandans, Pakistanis and others from Arab countries.
This, he said, had complicated the conflict that had been raving since the fall of Siad Barre’s government in 1991.
Kulayigye was speaking during a conference organised by a united religions initiative at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Tuesday.
Ugandan and Burundian troops make up the 9,000 strong AU peacekeeping force protecting the beleaguered government.
Kulayigye blasted some Western countries that he said were calling for early elections following the relative peace in Mogadishu. He said the political situation in Somalia was still too volatile for polls.