This from the Associated Press
U.S. Marine Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland, the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, said in an interview from his headquarters in Djibouti that U.S. troops were working with Somalia's neighbors to improve their border security since U.S. pressure on the al-Qaida terrorist group in Pakistan and Afghanistan may force some members to seek refuge in East Africa.
"Somalia is a :eek: , it is ungoverned space," Helland said. "We, the international community, have to do something to take away that safe haven."
He said that it was imperative that the government-in-exile successfully asserts itself inside Somalia and introduces law and order. Somalia's government has been based in neighboring Kenya since it was formed in 2004 because the capital, Mogadishu, is considered unsafe.
On Thursday, the African Union authorized the deployment of 1,700 peacekeepers to Somalia to help secure the transitional government as it heads home. The Ugandan and Sudanese troops will be deployed in the towns of Baidoa and Jowhar, where the government will operate temporarily, according to the AU's Said Djinnit.
Somalia has been without a central government since clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Warlords then turned on each other, plunging the Horn of Africa nation of 7 million into anarchy.
The government is opposed by Islamic extremists and some of the dozens of warlords in the country.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the AP on Thursday that an al-Qaida terror cell was "very active" in Mogadishu, but that a Somali government was the best bet for dealing with the problem.
Helland spoke to the AP as he prepared to end his one-year command of the task force.
The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, set up in Djibouti in 2002, is responsible for fighting terrorism in nine countries around the Horn of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia in Africa and Yemen on the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
He described the task force's methods as unconventional warfare because they concentrate on waging peace. The force works "to enable partner nations to conduct the fight against terrorism by building their capabilities."
"We're doing things unconventional because I don't have a conventional force," Helland said. "I have a security force, I have well-diggers, I have engineers, I have construction folks, I've got civil affairs, veterinarians, doctors and all those things that are the unconventional side of the fight against terrorism."
Among the task force's recent successes were training Kenyan coast guard units so they can now identify, board and search suspicious vessels on their own as well as working with Yemeni soldiers to improve their counterinsurgency operations and training border security forces in Ethiopia and Djibouti, Helland said.
The international character of the task forces also continues to expand, with officers from Britain, the Netherlands and Pakistan expected to become observers or full participants. He said the next step would be to help organize joint training exercises among the different forces in the region.
In addition to helping Horn of Africa nations to improve their border security and counterterrorism abilities, the force's mission includes operations to repair schools and hospitals and provide medical and veterinarian services to remote areas where terrorists could hide.
Helland said Muslim communities were initially suspicious but that they had warmed to the U.S. forces after almost three years of work.
