The head of the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia said Friday his operations against al-Shabaab militants have been hit by European Union funding cuts. Speaking in the Kenyan capital, Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira said the AU is now seeking aid from Gulf countries.
Madeira — who was addressing a news conference — told reporters that Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia had also agreed to contribute helicopters to African Union forces to aid it in fighting Somali-based al-Shabaab militants.
Officials had “undertaken a trip to the Gulf countries to sensitize those countries on the need to support the African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM],” Madeira said.
Madeira’s remarks comes as Turkey’s president is in Somalia where he today opened a new embassy and said his country plans to open a military training center in the capital, Mogadishu. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking after an earlier meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta where the Turkish leader said Ankara would help in stabilizing Somalia.
| I think the Turks are going to be busy, but if Erdogan could contribute some military units there to work with the AU -- helicopters and ground support for those, as one example -- it could swing things way in favor of the AU units. |
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