British prime minister David Cameron has said that hundreds
of British troops will be deployed to Somalia and South Sudan to train African
peacekeeping forces in order to foster “less terrorism and less migration.”
Over the years the United Kingdom has contributed to many peacekeeping
missions, but now its role is largely limited to providing about 280 troops
participating in the current mission in Cyprus. The United Kingdom has also
given about £260 million in aid to South Sudan since the start of the civil war
in December 2013.
British prime minister David Cameron has said that hundreds
of British troops will be deployed to Somalia and South Sudan to train African
peacekeeping forces in order to foster “less terrorism and less migration.”
Cameron said he was offering forces to United Nations (UN)
and African Union (AU) peace keeping missions to help bring conflicts in the
two countries under control, especially as these conflicts are facilitating the
rise of terrorist groups in Somalia and triggering mass migration from South
Sudan, where more than two million people have been driven from their homes as
a result of bloody skirmishes between the government and rebels.
Time reports that about seventy U.K. soldiers and officers
will be sent to Somalia, where AU peacekeeping units have been deployed to
tackle the Islamist group al-Shabaab. They British soldiers will not be
involved in combat operations, instead focusing on training AU forces in
logistics, engineering, and medical aid.
More troops — about 250 to 300 — are being sent to South
Sudan to carry out specific tasks such as engineering advice and combat
training.
Cameron will unveil the British troop offer at a session on
UN peacekeeping on Monday, hosted by the secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and
the president, Barack Obama, with dozens of other member states expected to
make contributions.
Speaking before his arrival in New York, Cameron said: “We
think Britain has a particular role in training and logistics and expertise and
standards, so we want to step up what we are doing. But let me stress, we all
want to see all the right force-protection arrangements in place but we should
be playing a part in this.
“What happens in Somalia, if it’s a good outcome, it’s good
for Britain, it means less terrorism, less migration, less piracy; ditto South
Sudan.”
He said it was “absolutely vital that the international
community works together to shore up stability in Africa.”
Over the years the United Kingdom has contributed to many
peacekeeping missions, but now its role is largely limited to providing about
280 troops participating in the current mission in Cyprus.
The United Kingdom has also given about £260 million in aid
to South Sudan since the start of the civil war in December 2013.
Pressure has recently been growing on the British government
to contribute more in the way of boots on the ground to strengthen the UN’s
peacekeeping aims.
Culled from Homeland Security NewsWire
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