China donates $1.2m towards peace efforts in Somalia. The donation will be going to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Smail Chergui, the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, made the official announcement via twitter on Monday. Ambassador Kuang Weilin signed for the Chinese government while Chergui signed for the AU.
The AU forces have come under repeated attacks from militant group, al-Shabaab, who are fighting to establish an Islamic government. The Al Qaeda-linked group have claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks on civilians and on government and international security forces.
They still hold some regions in the country even though their capabilities are thought to be waning. Their recent fortunes have been allied to the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in parts of the country. The withdrawals are said to be due to unrest back home but the Ethiopian government denies that.
Recently, the Burundian government served notice that it could withdraw its troops from the AMISOM citing the nonpayment of troops as the main reason for the threat of withdrawal.
The decision of the EU to cut off its funding for the troops is tied to the ongoing political crisis in the country.
Burundi is the second largest contributor to AMISOM. Their over 5400 troops come behind Uganda who have over 6000 troops.
Somalia is currently conducting its elections and the issue of security is high on the agenda. AMISOM troop contributing countries include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Police contributing countries also include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
80 percent of all UN peacekeepers are deployed in Africa. The largest missions are in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Darfur (jointly administered with the AU), South Sudan, and Mali.
