DAILY NATION
By Kevin J. Kelley
Somali
security forces and African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) troops
killed 92 civilians in the last four months of 2016, the United Nations
reported yesterday.
That was one
civilian death more than those attributed to al-Shabaab "or unidentified
persons" in the same period, according to the UN secretary-general's
report to the Security Council.
Somalia's national
army and police were responsible for 55 civilian deaths, while 37 more
died at the hands of Amisom, the review stated.
The 20-page report
enumerates some of the civilian killings carried out by al-Shabaab, but
it does not describe any of the incidents of civilian casualties
involving Amisom or Somali security personnel. The UN says only that its
mission in Somalia "continued to engage with Amisom on reported
allegations of violations of human rights and humanitarian law".
Insecurity remains
rife in much of Somalia, the report suggests. "In Mogadishu," the UN
recounts, "al-Shabaab stepped up the use of car bombings with the
intention of perpetuating a sense of insecurity among the public during
the electoral period."
"In central and
southern Somalia," the report adds, "al-Shabaab continued to engage in
guerrilla warfare and occasionally deployed fighters to carry out
complex attacks."
POOR SECURITY
Delays of more than
a year in payments to Somali security personnel are contributing to the
poor security situation, the UN indicates.
Salary arrears
estimated at up to 13 months for soldiers and 15 months for police
officers "remain a key concern and a major incentive for personnel to
desert or, worse, defect," the report says. It adds, however, that
donor-funded stipends are paid regularly to the national army, the
federal police and 1000 regional police officers in Baidoa and
Kismaayo."
The report does not disclose the amount of those stipends.
It further cites
"the parlous state of the trust funds for Amisom and the national army,"
calling their low levels a "grave concern".
At the end of the
November, only $400,000 remained in the fund that provides financial
support for Amisom. The balance of the Somali army fund stood at $13.7
million, the report noted. "Additional contributions from partners are
critical to enabling Amisom to achieve its mandate and ensuring a smooth
transfer of security responsibilities to the Somali security forces,"
the UN chief said.
No comments:
Post a Comment