Uganda Offers to Send More Troops to Somalia

Following a meeting with the UN Security Council in which the instability with Somalia was a main topic of discussion, President Yoweri Museveni has stated that Uganda is willing to send anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 more troops to Somalia in order to prevent Somalia from becoming a terrorist run state. Museveni stated that the number of troops to be sent is irrelevant because allowing Somalia to become run by terrorists is not an option. The only obstacle that Museveni faces is funding. He stated that Uganda has both the power and the know-how to help stabilize Somalia, but the AU or UN has to provide more financing, however a $73 million budget cut is complicating matters. Much of this money is needed to go towards aircrafts that help UN peacekeeping missions in both Sudan and Somalia. This article also discussed how Uganda's involvement in the mission in Somalia is controversial and was stated to be one of the reasons for the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist attack in July Kampala which killed 76 people.

by Brianna