African leaders call for more peacekeepers for Somalia to defend against al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) __ African leaders meeting in Uganda on Friday called for more peacekeepers for Somalia to defend against the extremist al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group that has been wreaking havoc in the Horn of Africa nation.

A statement at the end of a regional leaders’ meeting in the Ugandan capital of Kampala suggested additional troops could possibly come from Egypt.

More than 10,000 African Union troops are currently deployed to Somalia, nearly half of them from Uganda. The AU troops were authorized by the United Nations Security Council and multiple versions of the peacekeeping mission have been deployed there since 2007.

The latest mission, which took over earlier this year and is known as the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, faces funding challenges and regional disagreements over which countries are authorized to deploy troops.

Somali authorities want Egyptian troops in the mission but not those from Ethiopia. However, relations between Ethiopia and Egypt have been strained in recent years over Ethiopia’s construction of a $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile, a key tributary of the Nile River. Egypt claims the project will likely diminish its share of the water from the Nile.

Al-Shabab militants have fought for more than 15 years to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government. To this day, the extremists launch deadly raids and bombings, including in Somalia’s seaside capital of Mogadishu, despite a new offensive by government troops as well as routine airstrikes by the United States.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told the meeting in Kampala that the government offensive against al-Shabab is “now at a critical juncture,” urging for continued international support.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni encouraged Somalia to recruit volunteers among its citizens willing to fight al-Shabab.

“A small Somali national army, in terms of numbers, plus a small (AU) force from friends is a very dangerous underdose that has caused the chronic sickness of insecurity” Museveni said.