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US envoy says more troops needed in Somalia
More troops are needed on the ground in Somalia in order to defeat the extremist forces there that pose a regional and international threat, a top US diplomat said Monday
"There is no doubt there is a need for more troops on the ground," US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson said on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Kampala.
Carson made the remarks after a meeting involving representatives from 15 governments and organisations concerned with the crisis in the Horn of Africa nation.
The AU's peacekeping mission in Somalia, also called AMISOM, currently has more than 6,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi.
Carson said any additional troops deployed will receive US support.
"We in Washington have committed ourselves to support additional troops on the ground in the same fashion that we have supported Burundi and Ugandan troops," he said.
Following the July 11 bombings in Kampala claimed by Somalia's Shebab group, Ugandan officials have called for the AMISOM mandate to be changed allowing peacekeepers to attack the Islamists.
Carson suggested there was no concensus yet on the mandate issue.
"We heard from the new (UN) Secretary General's special representative who was also a part of this (meeting). His interpretation was that the mandate was sufficiently strong right now," Carson said.
"There was some wide discussion on this but it was his view that under the existing mandate the forces on the ground could act in a more responsible but robust fashion."
A change of AMISOM's mandate requires a directive from the UN Security Council.
Carson said South Africa was present at the meeting. On Friday, AU chief Jean Ping said he had personally asked South Africa to contribute troops to the Somalia mission.
