E.U. to Train 2,000 Somali Troops

By Abdulaziz Billow Ali

The European Union will start training 2000 Somali troops in Uganda in May, a senior French army official said on Friday. Brigadier General Thierry Caspar-Fille-Lambie of the Djibouti based French forces said that the troops will be trained with the necessary military skills and know how to help in bringing the war torn Somalia back to its feet once again. The troops are to undergo military training in the Bihanga in western Uganda for six months. “As France was one of the countries stressing the need for the involvement of EU in training Somalia forces, around 30 French trainers shall be part of that mission,” said Lambie at the closing ceremony of four-week French operational training of 1,700Ugandan troops to be deployed in the lawless country in May for peacekeeping mission.

“The EU troops shall work in close collaboration with UPDF to train the Somali troops,” said Rene Forceville, the French Ambassador to Uganda. Lt. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the commander of Uganda Land Forces said the best way to help pacify the Horn of Africa country is by training and equipping their troops. “We together with EU troops shall train them with the necessary skills to manage their own security,” said Wamala. The EU earlier this month agreed to set up a military mission in Uganda aimed at training up to 2,000 Somali troops, which will complement other training missions and bring the total number of

better- trained Somali soldiers to 6,000.

The mission led by Spain will closely coordinate with the African Union, the U.S. and the United Nations as well as with Somalia’s transitional government. Uganda and Burundi are currently the only countries contributing some 4,300 troops to the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Somalia has been without a functional government and civil strife since the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.