African Union Mission to Somalia

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African Union Mission to Somalia
Participant in the Somali Civil War
Active	March 2007–
Leaders	General Levi Karuhanga
Headquarters	Mogadishu
Area of operations	Central and southern Somalia
Allies	Transitional Federal Government
Opponents	N/A

Somali Civil War
Revolution (1986–92) – UN intervention (1992–95) – Attempts at Reconciliation (1991–2004) – Consolidation (1998–2006) – Rise of the ICU (2006) – Ethiopian intervention (2006–present) – Islamist insurgency (2007–present)

The African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) was authorized on January 19, 2007 to provide for security and peacekeeping in the wake of the 2006–2007 war in Somalia.^[1]

Contents 1 Origin of the mission 2 Mission planning 2.1 Scope of the mission 2.2 ICU resistance 2.3 Gathering support 3 Deployment 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Origin of the mission

Main article: Diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War

AMISOM replaced and subsumed the IGAD Peace Support Mission to Somalia or IGASOM, which was a proposed Intergovernmental Authority on Development regional peacekeeping force to Somalia approved by the African Union on September 14, 2006.^[2] IGASOM was also approved by the United Nations Security Council on December 6, 2006 under Resolution 1725.^[3][4]

IGASOM was originally proposed for immediate implementation on March 2005 to provide peacekeeping forces for the latest phase of the Somali Civil War.^[5]

At that time, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) had not yet taken control of Mogadishu, and most hopes for national unity lay with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) which had organized in Nairobi, Kenya in 2004 and were planning to established a provisional capital in Baidoa, Bay region, Somalia.

By May 2006, the situation was radically different, as the ICU had recently engaged the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and was fighting for control of Mogadishu in the Second Battle of Mogadishu. By June, they had established control of the capital. Fighting began to spread to other parts of the nation as the UIC gained ground.

Plans for IGASOM continued, though by July there were indications of opposition from the ICU, who saw the initiative as a US-backed, Western means to curb the growth of their Islamic movement.^[6]

Until December 2006, the UN Security Council had imposed an arms embargo on the group,^[7] but the embargo was partially lifted and a mandate for IGASOM issued on 6 December 2006 for six months.^[8]

On 21 February 2007, the United Nations Security Council authorised a peacekeeping force with a mandate of six months.^[3] In March 2007, Ugandan military officials arrived on the ground in Somalia.^[9]

[edit] Mission planning

[edit] Scope of the mission

IGASOM was expected to eventually reach 8,000 troops, with an expected cost of $335 million for the first year.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 1725, states bordering Somalia would not be eligible to deploy troops under IGASOM. The remaining (non-bordering) IGAD member nations include Sudan, Eritrea, and Uganda. Because of the objection of the burden falling on these three nations alone (and the rivalry between Ethiopia and Eritrea), the mission was expanded to include other African Union nations.

AMISOM by definition has a different composition. As proposed, it is to comprise an initial 3 battalions, growing to a total of 9 battalions of 850 troops each, which would serve for an initial stabilization period of 6 months. The mission was to be modelled after the African Union Mission in Burundi (AMIB).^[1]

[edit] ICU resistance

As early as March 25, 2005 Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys of the Union of Islamic Courts warned any peacekeepers would be unwelcome in the country. He was quoted by the BBC as saying, "We will fight fiercely to the death any intervention force that arrives in Somalia."^[10] Yet at the time, the ICU was not the political or military force it was to become later.

Faced with the ascendency of the UIC after taking over the capital in the Second Battle of Mogadishu between May and June, 2006, UN-watchers were growing concerned with the level of hostility of the ICU towards the proposed IGASOM mission.^[6]

Though IGAD and the ICU met and published a cordial and formal communique^[11] committing the ICU to the IGAD plans on December 2, by the passage of Resolution 1725 on December 6, the ICU was openly and militantly opposed to peacekeepers entering Somalia, and vowed to treat any peacekeepers as hostile forces. Because of regional divisions, there were also UIC resistance to allowing Ethiopian troops be part of the mission. Ethiopia, for its part, was leery of allowing Eritrean troops to be members of the IGAD peacekeeping force.

In the face of ICU threats, Uganda, the only IGAD members who had openly offered to send forces (a battalion), withdrew in the face of concerns of the present feasibility of the mission.^[12][13][14] In Uganda's defense, the crisis does not allow for peacekeepers when there are active hostilities conducted with heavy weapons (see Battle of Baidoa).

On December 23, 2006, the fate and feasibility of IGASOM remained uncertain, though US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa to obtain assurances and emphasize plans to deploy IGASOM early in 2007.^[15]

On January 1, 2007, after the defeat of the ICU in various battles in December 2006, Uganda again renewed its pledge of a battalion of troops. Between Uganda and Nigeria (which is a member of the African Union, but not of IGAD), there was a pledge of a total of 8,000 peacekeepers.^[16] Malawi also pledged to send forces,^[17] while Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania may do so.^[18]

[edit] Gathering support

Following the defeat of the Islamic Courts Union in December 2006–January 2007 the international community began to gather both fiscal commitments as well as military forces for the mission. Nations of the African Union (AU) outside the IGAD community were drawn on to provide support.

On January 17, 2007, the US ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, said the US pledged $40 million to support the deployment of a peacekeeping force for Somalia.^[19] By January 20, the European Union followed with a pledge of 15 million euros.^[20]

On January 19, the mission was formally defined and approved by the African Union at the 69th meeting of the Peace and Security Council.^[1]

On January 22, Malawi agreed to send a half-battalion to a battalion (ranging widely anywhere between approximately 400 to 1,200 troops) for a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.^[21]

On January 24, Nigeria pledged a battalion (a force between 770 and 1,100 troops) to join the Somali peacekeeping mission.^[22]

On February 1, Burundi committed to the peacekeeping mission, pledging up to 1,000 troops.^[23]

On February 2, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the advent of the African Union and IGAD-led peacekeeping mission.^[24]

On February 5, Tanzania offered to train Somali government troops, but not to deploy peacekeepers.^[25]

On February 9, a gathering of 800 Somali demonostrators in north Mogadishu, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and Ugandan flags in protest of the proposed peacekeeping mission. A masked representative of the resistance group, the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels; the same group had made a video warning peacekeepers to avoid coming to Somalia.^[26] By this date, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi and Burundi had committed to the peacekeeping mission, but the total force was about half of the proposed 8,000-strong force.^[27] Uganda had pledged 1,400 troops and some armored vehicles for a mission lasting up to 9 months, and the AU had pledged $11.6 million.^[28]

On February 16, Uganda announced it would deploy 1,500 well-seasoned troops as early as Saturday, February 17, under the command of Major General Levi Karuhanga. The troops had been training for two years in preparation for the mission.^[29]

[edit] Deployment

Country	Number of troops	Casualties
Uganda	1700 (1200 already in Somalia)	2 wounded[30]
Nigeria	850	none
Ghana	N/A	none
Malawi	up to 1000	none
Burundi	1700	none

[edit] See also

• United Nations Security Council
• African Union (AU)
• Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
• Union of Islamic Courts (UIC)
• Transitional Federal Government (TFG)
• Somali Civil War (2006)
• Diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War

[edit] External links

• http://www.operationspaix.net/-AMISOM-

[edit] References