CNN: United States is providing weapons to Somali Gov as it fights alQaeda Militants

[Liibaan]

U.S. providing weapons to Somali government, officials say

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is providing weapons and ammunition to Somalia's transitional government as it fights al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Thursday.

Somali government soldiers, who are fighting Islamic militants, patrol Mogadishu.

 

Somali government soldiers, who are fighting Islamic militants, patrol Mogadishu.

 

"At the request of that government the State Department has helped to provide weapons and ammunition on an urgent basis," he said.

 

"This is to support the Transitional Federal Government's efforts to repel the onslaught of extremist forces which are intent on destroying the Djibouti peace process."

 

Kelly said the weapons shipments are in accordance with U.N. security resolutions that ban some arms shipments to Somalia.

 

There is growing concern that Somalia could be the next base for al Qaeda as U.S. forces pound their positions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. CIA Director Leon Panetta recently said that the intelligence agency is keeping tabs on the region as a possible destination for fleeing al Qaeda operatives.

 

 

"Our concern right now is that likely safe havens are areas in the Horn of Africa, like Somalia and Yemen, that are countries that because of their political status can be attractive to al Qaeda in order to operate there," Panetta said earlier this month.

 

"We are focusing on those countries as well in order to ensure that there is no safe haven for al Qaeda as we continue to pressure them, continue to push them, and hopefully continue to make the effort to destroy them, not only in Pakistan but throughout the rest of the world."

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U.S. sends arms to Somalia to thwart rebels - report

Thu Jun 25, 2009 4:40am EDT

 

 

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - The United States has sent weapons to the government of Somalia to thwart a takeover of the Horn of Africa nation by Islamist rebels with suspected ties to al Qaeda, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

 

"A decision was made at the highest level to ensure the government does not fall and that everything is done to strengthen government security forces to counter the rebels," an unnamed U.S. official told the newspaper.

 

The shipment of weapons and ammunition arrived this month in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the official said.

 

U.S. and Somali officials say that possibly hundreds of fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other nations are fighting alongside the Islamist group known as al Shabaab, which Washington has designated a terrorist group, the Post said.

 

U.S. officials have accused Eritrea of sending weapons to the rebels, who have taken over much of Mogadishu and southern Somalia, the newspaper said.

 

Washington has long worried that Somalia could become a base for al Qaeda to launch terrorist attacks such as the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

 

Somalia and Yemen have seen expanded militancy and are gaining prominence as sanctuaries for al Qaeda, which is under pressure in its Pakistan enclaves.

 

Last week, hardline Islamists allied to al Qaeda killed Somali Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden and 30 others in the deadliest suicide bomb attack yet in Somalia. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Alison Williams)

[Liibaan]

Officials: US bolsters Somalia aid to foil rebels

 

By PAULINE JELINEK and LOLITA C. BALDOR – 21 minutes ago

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has decided to bolster efforts to support Somalia's embattled government by providing money for weapons and helping the military in neighboring Djibouti train Somali forces, U.S. officials said Thursday.

 

The goal is to stem Islamic insurgent advances in the Horn of Africa, but the plan would commit the U.S. to a greater embrace of a shaky government atop one of the world's most chaotic states.

 

An administration review of U.S. policy toward Somalia found an urgent need to supply the Somali government with ammunition and weapons as it struggles to confront increasingly powerful Islamic militants.

 

Alarmed by terrorists' gains in Somalia, the administration decided it needed to do more to support Somalia's transitional federal government, officials said.

 

Officials said the U.S. would not conduct the training and that the U.S. military would not be in Somalia. The U.S. would provide logistical support for the training, and provide arms to the Somalis. The U.S. officials spoke about the emerging plan on condition of anonymity because the details have not yet been finalized.

 

But even with the administration's careful effort not to leave an American footprint in a country wracked by violent upheaval, the move amounts to a budding foreign complication for the U.S. as its own armed forces wage two distant wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

The effort to bolster Somalia's tattered military and police forces faces heavy odds. Somalia, which has been in chaos for nearly 20 years, controls only a few blocks of the capital and comes under regular attack from increasingly powerful Islamic insurgents.

 

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly would not confirm the new moves, but said Thursday the administration was concerned about continuing unrest in Somalia.

 

The "threat to the government," Kelly said, "is causing real suffering — this kind of violence is causing real suffering for the Somalian people and it's just prolonging the chaos and preventing the country from getting on stable footing. So, yes, we are concerned."

 

Warlords and Islamic al-Shabab militants control the countryside, which has become a growing base for al-Qaida terrorists arriving from Yeman and South Asia, U.S. officials have said. Somali pirates operating from coastal towns have hijacked dozens of cargo ships and confronted the U.S. Navy during an April standoff that ended when American snipers freed a hostage after killing three pirates.

 

Insurgents even hold sway even inside Somalia's capital. That was evident Thursday as militants cut off the limbs of four men convicted of stealing cell phones during a public display of fundamentalist Islamic justice.

 

The government in recent years has depended on outsiders for protection, including more than 4,000 African Union troops in the capital and on forces from neighboring Ethiopia, which drove out the Council of Islamic Courts in 2007 and stayed in the country for two years, helping to prop up the government.

 

As part of growing U.S. aid to the Somali government, a shipment of ammunition was delivered to Mogadishu this month, one U.S. official confirmed Thursday. The official did not divulge the origin of the materiel.

 

The shipment was part of a series of deliveries of weapons and ammunition that are expected to be sent to African Union forces — primarily Ugandans — who in turn will relay them to the Somali government, the official said. Any nation operating under the auspices of the African Union in Somalia would be reimbursed for the weaponry handed over to the Somalis, the official said.

 

Both the U.S. military and diplomats have acted quietly in recent months to increase American involvement in Africa. A new Africa Command within the Defense Department is now coordinating aid across the continent, focused on ungoverned territories in the north and east where Islamic extremists are pressing for a foothold.

 

But the U.S. military does not want to be out front as the trainers, reflecting sensitivities in African nations that could view aggressive U.S. involvement as interference by the West. Instead, U.S. officials working in Africa to date have limited their efforts to aiding problem nations in dealing with their own internal security problems.

 

A chief concern in Somalia is al-Shabab, a terrorist organization whose name means "the youth." The faction has been gaining ground as Somalia's Western-backed government crumbles. The group's goal is to establish an Islamic state in Somalia

 

Sheik Sharif Sheik Amed, a moderate Islamist, was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued.

 

Despite continuing chaos, State Department spokesman Kelly said the administration considers Somalia's current government the "best chance for peace, stability and reconciliation."

 

There is also a domestic American consideration to Somalia's violent insurgency. Several young Somali-American men have disappeared from the Minneapolis region in recent months and are believed to have traveled to Somalia to fight with al-Shabab militants. One strapped on explosives last fall in a coordinated attack in Somalia, becoming the first U.S. citizen to act as a suicide bomber.

 

U.S. counterterrorism officials say it is a disturbing pattern, one that mirrors al-Qaida methods in Somalia and could spawn homegrown insurgents and suicide bombers inside the U.S.

 

Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Elizabeth Kennedy in Nairobi contributed to this report.

[Meiji]

Better to arm Somali soldiers instead of requesting for foreign soldiers.

 

 

Hopefully those trained and equiped Somali soldiers will be able to secure the country and eventually secure our borders against Ethiopian incursions.

[RedSea]

Fair fight. As long as they dont bring xabashi troops who will do more harm to inncent people than Alshabab.

[Liibaan]

US Providing 'Urgent' Arms Aid to Somali Government

By David Gollust

The State Department

25 June 2009

 

 

Islamist fighters, seen, during clashes with Somali government soldiers, in Mogadishu (file photo)

Islamist fighters, seen, during clashes with Somali government soldiers, in Mogadishu (file photo)

The State Department said Thursday the United States is providing urgent military aid to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, the TFG, to help it repel what is termed an "onslaught" by Islamist rebels. U.S. officials are also renewing their criticism of alleged Eritrean support for Somali extremists.

 

The Obama administration, which has given strong political support to the besieged Somali administration, is backing that up with an emergency shipment of weapons and ammunition help prevent a militant takeover of the chronically-unstable African state.

 

The U.S. arms aid, first reported Thursday by the Washington Post newspaper, was confirmed by State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, who said the supplies were being conveyed to the TFG on an urgent basis in response to an appeal by the Mogadishu authorities.

 

He said the TFG faces an "onslaught" by extremist forces intent on destroying the U.N. sponsored Djibouti peace process for Somalia and spoiling efforts to bring peace and stability to the country through political reconciliation.

 

US State Dept. spokesman Ian Kelly points to a reporter at a press briefing at the State Dept., Washington (File)

US State Dept. spokesman Ian Kelly points to a reporter at a press briefing at the State Dept., Washington (File)

"We think that this government, the Transitional Federal government, represents Somalia's best chance for peace stability and reconciliation. This government is the best chance that they've had in the last 18 years," he said. "And in addition to this threat to the government, this kind of violence is causing real suffering for the Somali people and its just prolonging the chaos and preventing the country from getting on stable footings," Kelly added.

 

The Somali administration issued an urgent plea for international aid including troops last weekend as the heaviest fighting in months engulfed the capital and other regions, killing more than 200 people including the TFG security minister.

 

The United Nations backed interim administration is opposed by a coalition of several Islamist groups, the most prominent being the al-Shabab militia, which has alleged ties to al-Qaida and is listed by the United States as a terrorist group.

 

U.S. and Somali officials say foreign militants from several Muslim countries are fighting alongside al-Shabab, and spokesman Kelly reiterated U.S. concern that Eritrea has been helping the rebels.

 

"We think they are providing material support including financing to some of these extremist groups, most particularly al-Shabab. We've taken these concerns up with the government of Eritrea,: he said. "I want to emphasize that we remain open to trying to improve relations with Eritrea. But this country's support -- Eritrea's support -- for al-Shabab and other extremist groups is a serious obstacle to any improvement that we can make," he stressed.

 

Kelly offered no details of the military aid being sent to Somalia but insisted it is in accordance with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at curbing arms traffic to Somali combatants.

 

News reports say it consists of small arms and ammunition being sent in from nearby African countries, which in turn are being reimbursed by the United States.

 

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the early 1990's. Rebels have been making gains since Ethiopian troops, who intervened in 2006, left the country early this year.