Djibouti to Send Another Battalion of Troops to Somalia Soon

The Djibouti government has said it is the final stages of preparation to send extra troops to Somalia to enlarge support for AMISOM and the peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Djibouti currently had 1000 troops operating in the central Hiiraan region. Djibouti's foreign minister, Mohamed Ali Yusuf, said on Wednesday (July 16) that another950 additional soldiers would soon be sent to Somalia.

The Minister said "The troops are now ready to deploy into Somalia", adding that "in the first phase we will send 450 soldiers and the rest, another 500 soldiers will follow in two months time." The Minister said Djibouti had decided t send the extra troops because "we want to consolidate the fight against Al Shabaab militants who are an obstacle to peace and stability in Somalia which has lacked a fully functioning central government for more than 23 years." The Minister also underlined security in Djibouti has been tightened after recent terrorist attacks in order to make sure that further terrorist activities would be prevented.

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