NATO may soon start another operation in support of the African Union. The Alliance is already providing logistic support (primarily airlift) to the AU’s peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Sudan.
Now, the AU has asked NATO to do the same for its peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
Specifically, NATO has been asked to fly an 1,800-strong infantry
battalion from one of the African Union's states (believed to be
Burundi) to the troubled Horn of Africa nation, which has been torn
apart by tribal and warlord conflicts and which just days ago was the
site of another U.S. strike against Al Qaeda-related targets. Nigeria
also plans to deploy a battalion worth of peacekeepers that may
probably require airlift support. Some 1,500 Ugandan troops are already
inside Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
According to sources at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Alliance’s key decision-making body (the North Atlantic Council) will “very soon, within the next couple of days” take a decision on the AU request, which will likely be positive. The Council is due to formally meet at the level of defense ministers on June 14-15 in Brussels.
Who of the NATO countries in practice will take care of airlifting the Burundi battalion and of subsequent support operations in Somalia will be decided soon, the officials say. Lockheed Martin C-130s operated by U.S. Air Forces in Europe could be tasked to play a key role in the mission, while other likely candidate suppliers of airlift are Belgium (C-130s) and France (C-130s and C-160s).
--Joris Janssen Lok
Photo: Belgian C-130H Hercules combat airlifters are among the possible assets to be deployed under a new NATO operation to support the African Union, this time in Somalia. Credit: Belgian MoD
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