Word: amisom
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...African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, AMISOM, put the death toll at 19, with dozens wounded. Among the dead were Education Minister Ahmed Abdulahi Wayeel, Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali and Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Addow. Two Somali journalists and a cameraman with Dubai-based Al Arabiya also died. Thursday's attack underscored the way in which the Islamic rebel groups in Somalia are adopting tactics perfect by al- Qaeda and its allies. Suicide bombings were rare in Somalia until recently, a fact that security experts say shows the influence - and training - al-Qaeda is bringing to the lawless...
...message indeed. The attack was the deadliest against the peacekeepers since their operation in Somalia began two years ago. It follows a similar attack on Feb. 22 in which a suicide bomber posing as a contractor blew himself up at the same AMISOM base in Mogadishu, killing 11. The Somali government says the insurgents have also stolen at least eight U.N. vehicles in recent months. Six remain missing. (See TIME's photo essay "Dramatic Pirate-Hostage Rescues...
Meanwhile, the AMISOM peacekeepers will struggle on the ground, continuing to wait for the hardware and financial support they were promised. Soon after Thursday's attack, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack "in the strongest terms," and the U.N. Security Council did the same, reaffirming its support for AMISOM. But even if the peacekeepers sitting in Mogadishu ever get word of that support, they probably won't think too highly of it. According to its mission statement, AMISOM is supposed to be preparing the way for the introduction of a U.N. peacekeeping force into the country...
...AMISOM force is supposed to have 8,000 troops, but other African nations that pledged to send soldiers have so far not done so. It is a telling sign that the links on the AMISOM website for "activities" and "peace process" both lead nowhere. AMISOM officials have adopted a fatalistic tone but insist they will remain in Somalia...
...ineffective as the AMISOM force is, however, Somalia?s weak transitional government isn?t doing much better. The President is holed up in a villa in the capital, and the army has so far been incapable of mounting a serious offensive against the Shabab. The best thing to be said about the government is that it still exists...