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A
new report has unveiled that the US Army is “quietly equipping and training”
thousands of African troops to prepare them for a war against al-Shabab
fighters in Somalia.
 |
| US Army Maj. Gen. David Hogg (C) inspects Sierra Leone troops in Freetown during a deployment ceremony this year. |
“Officially,
the troops are under the auspices of the African Union (AU). But in truth, according
to interviews by US and African officials and senior military officers and
budget documents, the 15,000-strong force pulled from five African countries is
largely a creation of the State Department and Pentagon, trained and supplied
by the US government,” Los Angeles Times reported on Monday.
The
report added that the American officers along with dozens of retired foreign
military personnel, hired through private contractors, are guiding the African
soldiers.
“Nearly
20 years after US Army Rangers suffered a bloody defeat in Somalia, losing 18
soldiers and two Black Hawk helicopters, Washington is once again heavily
engaged in the chaotic country. Only this time, African troops are doing the
fighting and dying,” the report said.
Freetown,
Sierra Leone's capital is one of the bases the US army uses to train African
soldiers, it said.
Through
deploying African troops to Somalia, “the Obama administration is trying to
achieve US military goals with minimal risk of American deaths and scant public
debate,” the report added.
“The
US can underwrite the war in Somalia for a relative pittance -- the cost over
four years has been less than USD 700 million, a tenth of what the military
spends in Afghanistan in a month -- but the price tag is growing. More than a
third of the US assistance has been spent since early 2011,” the American
newspaper said.
African
forces are supplied “with surveillance drones, ammunition, small arms, armoured
personnel carriers, night-vision goggles, communications gear, medical
equipment and other sophisticated aid and training,” the report added.
"The
US government has done extremely well in providing for us and we are grateful
for that, but they can do more," said Brig. Gen Komba Mondeh, Sierra
Leone's chief of operations and plans.
"This
is real war, and we expect to see the body bags coming back home," he
said.
The
report came as the US has recently stepped up its assassination drone
operations in the famine-stricken Somalia.
The
weak Western-backed transitional government in Mogadishu has been battling
al-Shabab for the past five years and is propped up by a strong AU force from
Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti.
The
country has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords
overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
(press tv)
Midly edited by PCF Web desk
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