Mon, Mar 22, 2010 page6

• Problems plague Somali counterinsurgency plans

  DEFICIENCIES The government in Mogadishu has not described how it would consolidate any gains made in a military offensive for which its troops are ill-prepared

  • AP
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  Problems including corrupt officials and a lack of supplies have delayed Somalia’s military offensive against Islamic insurgents, but even before the first shot has been fired new warnings have emerged that blood may be spilled for little or no gain.

  In signs the offensive is approaching, close to 1,000 additional troops arrived from Uganda last week to support the African Union’s (AU) forces in Mogadishu and the Islamists have been digging trenches across the capital’s streets to impede AU armored cars. The AU backs the beleaguered Somali government and has more than 5,000 troops stationed in the country.

  But Somalia’s government, whose forces are weak and poorly trained and equipped, has not described how it would consolidate any gains made in the offensive or win the support of the people, who are splintered into hundreds of clans.

  Experts say the government does not appear to have a political plan ready to deploy after the end of the fighting, which is likely to kill scores of civilians.

  Foreshadowing a struggle just to take ground from al-Shabab, an Islamic militia loosely linked with al-Qaeda, a UN report this month said Somali security forces lack resources, organization and a functional chain of command, and blamed the problems on a lack of commitment by the country’s leaders.

  The Somali government, for its part, says it is committed, but needs more international support, even though more than US$180 million has been poured into the country by the US alone in the last three years.

  As the commander in chief, Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed would order the start of the offensive. Ahmed said efforts were under way to professionalize and better equip the security forces, but the government lacks money to pay the soldiers, many of whom have been trained in neighboring Djibouti by the AU.

  US officials in Washington say they have given money to help pay for Somali soldiers, but declined to discuss how the money was delivered, to whom, or how they could be sure it reached the fighters. A UN report said the government’s ability to pay soldiers is hindered by deep corruption.

  The UN Monitoring Group of Somalia found that the Somali military is dominated by a command structure based on clan loyalties and noted that corruption has deprived soldiers of pay and meals and is so bad that Somali commanders and troops often sell their arms and ammunition to militants.

  “The consequences of these deficiencies include an inability of the security forces of the Transitional Federal Government to take and hold ground,” the UN monitoring group said in its scathing analysis. “As a result, they have made few durable military gains during the course of the mandate, and the front line has remained, in at least one location, only 500 meters from the presidency.”

  The offensive, which has been repeatedly delayed over the past few months, is meant to push back insurgents who operate within just a few blocks of the presidential palace and widen the government’s small slice of Mogadishu.

  US officials say Washington is not planning the offensive and won’t be coordinating or directing it. US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson said last week that the US has only “provided limited military support” to Somali government.
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