Ethiopian troops set to leave Somalia by end April:AU

[Che -Guevara]

By Aaron Maasho

Saturday, March 10, 2012

 

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia, which has deployed hundreds of troops inside Somalia to rout Islamist insurgents, is set to withdraw from the war-ravaged country by the end of April with Djibouti, Uganda and Burundi poised to step in, the African Union said on Friday.

Ethiopian forces captured the rebel stronghold of Baidoa in southern Somalia last month having seized Baladwayne from the al Qaeda-allied al Shabaab group on New Year's Eve.

 

Troops from Ethiopia crossed the border in November to open up a third front against the militants, who are also fighting 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian troops under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Kenyan forces to the south.

 

Keen to point out their incursion is not a repeat of their ill-fated 2006-2009 war in Somalia, Ethiopian officials have said troops would only be deployed for a brief period.

 

Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council voted to expand AMISOM, which supports the shaky Western-backed government, to nearly 18,000 soldiers, and will include Kenyan troops who will "re-hat" to its blue berets.

 

Chiefs of staff from troop contributing countries met in Addis Ababa to iron out details of the expanding mission.

 

"It provides for Djiboutian forces to be deployed in Baladwayne by the end of April at the latest. Two thousand five hundred troops from Burundi and Uganda will also be deployed in Baidoa by the 30th of April at the latest," the AU's Ramtane Lamamra said of a deal signed by the officials.

 

"The decision up to now is that it is essentially Baladwayne and Baidoa (for Ethiopia) and they have to be handed over to AMISOM and then Ethiopia will withdraw its forces to its own national territory."

 

Lamamra, the bloc's commissioner for peace and security, also said a Djiboutian contingent would be deployed in Mogadishu.

 

Ethiopian soldiers previously went into Somalia in 2006, and left in early 2009 after pushing the Islamist Islamic Courts Union out of the capital Mogadishu.

 

At the time, most Somalis opposed the intervention and analysts said it may have encouraged people to join al Shabaab.

 

COSTLY

 

Lamamra, however, said there was a slim possibility the bloc could ask Addis Ababa to push further.

 

"Because Ethiopian troops are assisting ... without being re-hatted unlike Kenya - it means this effort is being done on national resources and national budget, I don't see how we can ask them to go further, to do more if there is no accompanying support package," he said.

 

"If we succeed to work out some support package for Ethiopia, we may be in a position to request the government to consider the possibility to help us elsewhere."

 

Lamamra also said Sierra Leone was expected to deploy a battalion of 850 troops in southern Somalia by the end of June.

 

Somalia has been in turmoil since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Fighting has killed more than 21,000 people since al Shabaab launched its insurgency in 2007.

 

Al Shabaab rebels, who want to impose a harsh interpretation of sharia law on the Horn of Africa nation, have waged a five-year campaign to drive Somalia's weak government from power. (Editing by James Macharia).

 

Source: Reuters

[The Zack]

"Ethiopian troops are to leave Somalia......" just to come back again the following week LOL. Xabashidu meesha waddo ka dhigatay.

[Che -Guevara]

For some reason, I thought the TFG is controlling Baydhabo and Beled Weyne. I have been misinformed:D

[The Zack]

che -guevara;801514 wrote:

for some reason, i thought the tfg is controlling baydhabo and beled weyne. I have been misinformed:d

 

looool tfg who?

[NASSIR]

I knew Beletwein has been under Ethiopian occupation or intervention however you want to call it although Somalina called me "clueless" for stating it.

 

It's good AU troops will be deployed in Baidabo.

[nuune]

It is good Ethiopia leaves Somalia, it is good Kenya leaves Somalia, it is good AU leaves Somalia, it is good Alshabaab disappears altogether, it is good Sakiin leaves, it is good Shariif leaves, it is good every NGO leaves Somalia, it is good foreign meddling such as EU, USA, Arab League leave Somalia and stop their guumeysi of wageskaan kaa goosanayaa, heeso your salary, it is good in Somalia loo dhaafo Soomaalida, it is good in every Somali comes back to the land and invest, it is good in aan isku filnaano, it is good inaan beeraheena tabcano, it is good inaan all UN agencies dhahno naga taga idin ma rabno, it is good inaan dhisno imagekeena, it is good inaan baddeena ilaalsano, it is good inaan wax soo saar sameesano, it is good inaan dhareerna iska duwno oon tuugsiga joojino, it is good inaan danaheena raacano ...

[Che -Guevara]

Nassir.....Nothing good about any foreign force being stationed anywhere in our country.

[NASSIR]

So Che, adiga iyo professor Siciid Samatar isku meel baad ka soo jeedaan in Somaaliya iskeed loo daayo? Kala qaybsanaanta soomaali umaleyn maayo in wax hagaagayaan, waana tan keliya ee sahashey in koox waliba ama ha ahaadaan raggan mayalka adag ee argagixisda ah iyo Itoobiya oo ciidamadeeda ay ka sameystaan bases magaalooyin Somaliya gudaheeda ah. Saxibow waxaan aaminsanahey in Midowga Africa ay caawin karaan TFGda xag nabadsugid ama xag tababar loogu qabanayo ciidamada xooga dalka ama inta dowlad Somaaliya laga dhiso karayo ama inta laga gaarayo dowlad xaq ku dhisan oo ka amarisa wadankoo idil.

[Eng.Cadde]

Good Step.Amisom will be deployed in Baydhaba as well as Baladweyne while our brothers will go back to their country.somalia ha nolato.

[Somalia]

Not much opposition to the Ethiopians being in the country now eh?

[The Zack]

Somalia;801813 wrote:

Not much opposition to the Ethiopians being in the country now eh?

Nope not all. Wanna know why? It is not Yey or a Puntlander that has asked their assistance, instead it is Shariif Canbe who is from Jowhar Ethiopians are now liberating, not occupying any more.

[Somalia]

I know, it is remarkable, I can't say I am surprised by the logic. I got what I wanted anyway.

 

Lets hope AMISOM can keep those areas under control inshallah.

[Dabrow]

This is april joke. They wont leave until someone kicks them out and stop meddling in somali affairs

[Che -Guevara]

Ciidamada Dowladda KMG, kuwa Itoobiya iyo Xarakada Al-shabaab oo xalay ku dagaalamay duleedka Degmada Baydhabo

 

Axad, Maarso 11, 2012 (HOL) — Ugu yaraan 10-qof oo dhinacyadii dagaalamay ah ayaa ku dhintay dagaal xalay fiidkii duleedka degmada Baydhabo ku dhexmaray ciidamada DKMG ah iyo kuwa Itoobiya oo dhinac ah iyo Al-shabaab, waxaana ku jiray dadka dhintay sarkaal ka tirsan ciidamada dowladda KMG ah.

 

Dagaalkan oo ka dhacay deegaan 11-km dhinaca galbeed kaga beegan Baydhabo ayaa wuxuu qarxay markii ciidamada DKMG ah iyo kuwa Itoobiya ay weerar ku qaadeen saldhig ay Al-shabaab ku lahayd deegaankaas.

 

"Howlgalka wuxuu ahaa mid lagu adkeynaya ammaanka Baydhabo, waxaana fuliyay ciidamada dowladda iyo kuwa Itoobiya wayna ku guuleysteen," ayuu yiri C/fitaax Geeseey oo ka hadlay dagaalkaas.

 

Xarakada Al-shabaab ayaan ka hadlin dagaalkii xalay ay kula galeen deegaanka ka baxsan Baydhabo, iyadoo aan la ogeyn cidda gacanta ku haysa deegaankii lagu dagaalamay.

 

Wararka laga helayo Baydhabo ayaa waxay sheegayaan in dagaalkii askarta ku dhintay dagaalkii xalay uu ka mid ahaa sarkaal ka tirsan ciidamada dowladda oo lagu magacaabi jiray Col. Cali Aadan.

 

Dagaalka ayaa wuxuu kusoo beegmayaa xilli uu shalay dagaal khasaare badan geystay ku dhexmaray ciidamada DKMG ah iyo kuwa Itoobiya iyo Al-shabaab deegaanka Yurkud oo kala qaybiya gobollada Bay iyo Gedo.

 

Maxamed Xaaji Xuseen, Hiiraan Online

maxuseen@hiiraan.com

Muqdisho, Soomaaliya

[Che -Guevara]

Somali woman shines in military training program, giving hope to European trainers

 

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

 

IBANDA, Uganda (AP) — A military instructor clad in fatigues and boots who barks out orders to men half her age has become the unlikely star of a European Union program to train thousands of Somali troops.

Nearly 98 percent of the trainees in the six-month class being held in a remote Ugandan village are men, but it is 40-year-old Fatuma Hassan Noor, who returned for advanced training, who often gets mentioned in discussions of what the program can be proud of after its mandate expires in December.

 

Western governments are injecting millions of dollars into a program that they hope will contribute to the stabilization of Somalia, and officials stationed here hope dedicated students like Noor, when they finally return home, can prove that the money was not wasted.

 

Col. Michael Beary, an Irish officer who is in charge of the training mission, said he is not sending soldiers back to Somalia to defeat the militant group al-Shabab. Beary said he is instead trying to create disciplined soldiers who will return home with “a different attitude.”

 

The 608 Somali soldiers in the current class are being trained on good citizenship, women’s rights and how to stop gender-based violence, as well as weapons training, first aid, mine detection and communication during battle.

 

The 60 trainers in the village of Ibanda come from 12 European countries. The program has already trained 1,800 Somalis since 2010. The trainers say the mission is a small but vital contribution toward the creation of a professional army.

 

“This mission is very successful,” Beary said. “It is having a real effect on the ground.”

 

Noor is well-regarded because she was a member of the inaugural 2010 class but returned last year to train as a noncommissioned officer, a forward step toward her goal of practicing as an army nurse. This time, she came with her daughter, Amal Ahmed, who now says she is no longer afraid of a loaded AK-47.

 

“We don’t feel lonely when we are together,” Noor said last week.

 

The girl glanced at her mother and said: “We comfort each other. ... Some say my mother brought me here, but I tell them that I am strong enough to correct my mother when she is wrong.”

 

The mother and daughter presence on a camp dominated by men has infused some excitement into a program that is conditioned by fluid and often volatile events in Somalia, which has lacked a stable government since 1991.

 

Al-Shabab is on the mind of everyone at the Bihanga camp where students train among structures built to resemble Mogadishu’s ruins. But the trainers say they cannot afford to focus on terrorists whose power is fading under pressure from foreign armies backing Somalia’s transitional government. The class hopes to create good citizens.

 

This thinking, missing in earlier sessions, is being practiced partly through what is called “training of trainers,” courses in which a few fast-learning Somalis are taught skills they are expected to pass on. Noor is specializing in saving lives in combat, and these days she spends a lot of time training with rubber dummies.

 

“She’s good, very good,” said Abdullahi Kula, a translator observing her teaching a class on CPR from a distance.

 

Noor’s teachers say they like her enthusiasm.

 

“I met her the first day she arrived,” said Portuguese Lt. Col. Mariano Alves, the camp’s training commander. “She was very active. Immediately she asked me how life was here, how I was doing. She is a nice person.”

 

Noor is a private in the Somali army and the widowed mother of six children. She suspects she would be serving tea back home if she were not in the military. And she says she taught herself how to speak English, a skill that contributes to her popularity.

 

“When I go back home the women will look at me and say, ‘Look at her, she’s 40 years old and we are 20,’” she said. “They will want to come here. But they can’t speak English like me.”

 

Many of the Somalis here, who range in age from 18 to 40, are illiterate, and only 15 percent speak English. The trainers rely on a few translators to impart their lessons.

 

Each of the trainees will get $100 for every month spent at the camp, but they can only receive the cash after completing the course. Trainers say the money does a lot to keep them motivated.

 

“Like babies, they start by crawling, and then they start running,” said Sgt. Godfrey Onio, a Ugandan who has helped train the Somalis since the mission started.

 

European and Ugandan officials say they cannot control what happens after the Somalis return home. There have been defections in the past, with some frustrated trainees joining al-Shabab for better pay.

 

Roberto Ridolfi, the Italian head of the EU delegation in Uganda, said any renewal of the military program would be predicated on what happens after the mandate of Somalia’s transitional government expires in August.

 

The diplomat recalled a recent trip to Bihanga, where he was introduced to trainees including Noor. He was impressed that the woman had returned for advanced training, and he thanked her.

 

“It’s a beautiful example,” he said. “What the woman is doing is a good example of leadership.”

 

Source: AP