Addis Ababa: The African Union has decided to maintain its peacekeepers in conflict-torn Somalia for another two months, and appealed for more countries to send troops to bolster the force.
The decision yesterday to extend the mandate of the 3,400-strong force, due to expire at the end of the month, was taken at a meeting of the AU's peace and security council in the Ethiopian capital.
The council "discussed in depth the situation in Somalia and decided to prolong the mandate of the mission on the ground for two months," AU spokesman El Ghassim Wane told AFP.
Wane said the body had also "reiterated its appeal to member states to furnish the necessary troops to AMISOM," as the AU Mission in Somalia is known.
The peacekeeping force, which deployed in Somalia in March 2007, currently comprises 3,400 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, less than half the hoped-for 8,000 troops.
Nigeria has offered to send a battalion to join the force, said Zambian Foreign Minister Kabinga Pande who chaired the meeting.
"Three countries have already offered to move in Somalia. Uganda and Burundi with at least one more battalion each, and Nigeria has confirmed one battalion."
The African political bloc has been fighting an uphill battle to get its members to provide troops for the beleaguered force, a situation made more urgent by the withdrawal of Ethiopia's contingent, which has been helping a weak transitional government battle Islamist fighters for the last two years.
