Hiya!
Just a quick follow up on what is going on at the Kenyan/Somali border. On Sunday Kenyan troops moved across the Somali border in a show of strength against al-Shabab, perhaps the most dangerous of all of the militant groups operating in Somalia today. The Kenyans appear to have reached overload point with their Minister of Internal Security stating that Kenya '...is threatened by the most serious level of terrorism' and that government troops would be pursuing al-Shabab across the border and into strongholds in southern Somalia. All this in the wake of yet more kidnappings, this time of 2 Spanish aid workers (see this blog 14th October - http://valencia-peter.blogspot.com/). However, the official Somali government response was to insist that Somali troops are well capable of dealing with al-Shabab and, whilst welcoming 'logistical support' from the Kenyans, the presence of Kenyans troops in Somalia was unnecessary.
However, the Kenyan push was slowed on Tuesday by heavy rain as they began closing in on the town of Afmadow, with the militants fleeing in face of the advance. On Monday al-Shabab denied any involvement in the spate of kidnappings and attempted to turn the tables on the Kenyans accusing them of an act of blatant terrorism following this new advance into Somali territory and threatened severe reprisals. 'Remember what happened in Uganda's capital' it warned. A clear reference to their July 2010 bombing of a hotel in Kampala where 76 people died. That particular act was in response to Uganda's contribution to an African Union peacekeeping force stationed in Mogadishu and on Monday they promised to bring down the skyscrapers and buildings of Nairobi, Kenya's capital in a similar attack.
The Kenyan and official Somali government troops do appear to have settled some differences and were reported to be moving in concert towards the town of Qoqani, some 50 miles from Afmadow, which is expected to be captured within the next 48 hours or so.
The rapidity of the Kenyan push though cannot just be in response to the most recent of the kidnappings (see http://gu.com/p/32ya6 for more details) due to the size of the force and the apparent readiness of their preparations. It seems likely that the Kenyans have been pushed just one step too far and were already preparing a tactical response to the seemingly endless territorial violations of al-Shabab and other militant Somali groups.
All this in the wake of the death of the French woman, Marie Dedieu, a wheelchair bound tetraplegic who had been undergoing cancer therapy for the past two years (http://gu.com/p/32mvp) who had been kidnapped from her home in Kenya's Lamu archipelago. Details on the exact manner of her death have yet to surface but one seriously doubts that they will be pleasant!
And all around the famine continues. People die in their thousands and the world turns its' back. Even other African nations seem to be at a loss about what to do to combat the problems in Somlia. In August the African Union, at a meeting in Addis Ababa, pledged funds to help rebuild the Horn of Africa. However, the pledge was far short of what is truly required and a lack empathy for their fellow Africans meant only 4 African heads of state turned up at the meeting. The funds that were agreed were largely contributed by Algeria, Egypt and Angola, with the continents richest nations (South Africa and Nigeria) completely ignoring the call for help. However, so far only $500,000 of the pledged $46m has arrived, leaving Somalia, ravaged by severe famine in 4 of its' 5 geographical regions, teetering on the edge of complete collapse.
"If we truly believe in 'African solutions for African problems' we need to demonstrate this very clearly, not just in words but in actions," said a spokesperson for Africans Act4Africa. His words before the July congress falling on deaf ears as he called for the visting delegates to 'not just talk shop' and 'not just spend a lot of money on travel, protocol and their entourages.'
The UN do seem to be reluctantly pushing for aid for the region but this blogger feels that it is too little to late. Death, starvation, rape and violence are rampant across the country and the paltry amounts arriving in the country as a result of the UN's push are barely denting the fabric of this rapidly escalating disaster.
And then there's me! What can I do to help? Well, I'm writing this blog and doing my best to raise awareness of this intolerable situation. Also, given the chance and money, I would like to be able to approach Act4Africa and join them on one of their expeditions. Such things do not directly help those suffering in Somalia right now but Africans are suffering in more places than just Somalia and if I can do something that might help, then I'll do it! I do not believe that donations to the various NGO's working in the Dadaab camps will be totally effective and I feel that one's time and efforts would be put to much better use by writing strong letters of condemnation to one's MP and MEP's protesting the complete lack of British and EEC action in putting an end to the problems of Somalia.
Thanks for reading
Peter
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