EU donates $92 million to Somali peacekeepers

The European Union has announced $92.2 million new donation to the Africa Union Somalia peacekeeping mission (Amisom).

The peacekeepers have made impressive gains against radical Islamists al-Shabaab in the past few months.

EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said the donation was aimed at helping keep the peacekeeping force in place and providing them with the means to do their job more easily.

"There can be no development without security,” Mr Piebalgs told reporters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Amisom, he said, plays a critical role in Somalia, ensuring that human rights are respected, citizens are protected and the internally displaced persons and refugees can return home in safety

and dignity.

“This additional funding will enable the African mission to carry out its role in helping to protect the people of Somalia,” Mr Piebalgs added.

The new funding brings the EU allocation to Amisom to a total of $291.2 million, disbursed under the African Peace Facility (APF) since 2007.

Troops drawn from Uganda and Burundi, under the umbrella of Amisom, have had an uninterrupted peacekeeping presence in Mogadishu since March 2007.

Amisom provides a protection for the Transitional Federal Government and implements national security and stabilisation plan in Somalia.

Under the revised AU mandate, Amisom has played combatant roles and carried out various offensives against Islamic militants for the last one year.

Recently, Amisom and Somalia Government troops, along with moderate Islamic group Al Suna Wal Jamha, advanced to key places in central and southern Somalia.