Somalia facing an Afghanistan-like fate
The African Union Peace Mission, Amisom, plans to completely withdraw its troops from Somalia.
This portends, however, grave consequences
for the African country.
The withdrawal of Amisom troops from
Somalia may repeat the Afghan scenario in it.
This will be especially true in the
event of a random withdrawal of Amisom troops. Somalia's conditions are not
expected to be better than those of Afghanistan, if it falls into the lap of
terrorist organizations or the central government collapses.
According to security and political
reports, Amisom failed in achieving its mission in Somalia, namely of
eradicating terrorism and instituting full control over Somali territories by
the government.
Mission unaccomplished
The Institute for African Security
Studies (ISS) expects Amisom troops to withdraw from Somalia on December 31.
This heralds the return of the
al-Qaeda-leaning al-Shabaab movement to the scene in Somalia, ISS says in a
recent study.
It adds that al-Shabaab has been increasingly
infiltrating state institutions, including the security establishment,
exploiting the tribal nature of the Somali society.
Twenty people were killed and 40 others
wounded in clashes between Somali forces and al-Shabaab three days ago.
The repetition of such clashes piles
up pressure on government forces.
The government forces engaged in
clashes with the armed Sufi organization, Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama'a, in Galmudug
State in central Somalia this month.
Amisom was involved in fighting
al-Shabaab as well in support of the government forces. The mission is made up
of 19,000 military troops and an additional 1,000 policemen.
However, it failed in achieving most
of its objectives in Somalia.
This brings to mind the failures
NATO and US troops ran into in Afghanistan and Mali.
