United States Africa Command Public Affairs Office 14 March 2012 USAFRICOM - related news stories

Good morning. Please see today's news review for March 14, 2012. This new format is best viewed in HTML. Of interest in today's report: - N. African countries adopt plan to secure borders - LRA rebels dangerous even if weakened: UN official - General: Kony's rebels based in CAR - AU troops look beyond Mogadishu U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs Please send questions or comments to: publicaffairs@usafricom.mil 421-2687 (+49-711-729-2687) Headline Date Outlet Thomson Reuters - Africa Online AFP - AGENCE FRANCEPRESSE - DIRECTION GENERALE Pretoria News - Online Pretoria News - Online AFP - AGENCE FRANCEPRESSE - DIRECTION GENERALE Associated Press (AP) Christian Science Monitor Online Daily Nation - Online AllAfrica.com

N. Africa countries adopt plan to 03/13/2012 secure borders LRA rebels dangerous even if weakened: UN official General: Kony's rebels now based in CAR AU troops look beyond Mogadishu Islamist fighters call for Sharia law in Mali Official: Invest in children for peace in Somalia Kony 2012: 75 million viewers later, some Ugandans get first glimpse of film Ministers push for return of refugees Kenya: Nation Gets 16 Plum Posts in Amisom 03/13/2012

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Tribal attacks wrench South Sudan as disarmament starts | Top News | Reuters Uganda: Caritas Starts New Project for 28,000 Affected By LRA Inaugural African Partnership Flight Soars

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U.S. Navy Sailor from West Africa Brings Community Values to 03/13/2012 Djibouti Army Africa, Tennessee National Guard Personnel Journey to 03/13/2012 Uganda United Nations News Centre Africa Briefs 03/13/2012

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News Headline: N. Africa countries adopt plan to secure borders | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: TRIPOLI, March 12 (Reuters) - Nine northern African countries including Libya, Algeria and Egypt agreed on Monday to work together to secure their borders in a move to clamp down on militia clashes and weapons smuggling in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. Under the Tripoli Plan, countries will adopt stronger measures including sharing intelligence and pouring more money into border towns. "Security alone is not enough in keeping our borders safe," Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib said at a conference of interior ministers in Tripoli on Monday. "We must develop and increase the resources of towns near the borders." While most of the plan's points have yet to be implemented, it is the first time North African interior ministers have met to discuss border security since the beginning of the Libyan war last year. Repeated clashes in poorly-policed border zones have pushed the issue up the political agenda in recent months. Egyptian media have reported a rise in arms smuggling across the Libyan border since the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. The failure of Libya's government to keep order at the main Tunisian border crossing that leads to Tripoli has also emerged as a challenge for the National Transitional Council that took over after Gaddafi's overthrow and killing last year. In December, clashes between Tunisian security forces and a rogue Libyan militia forced Tunisia to close two border crossings with its neighbour. It re-opened them two weeks later.

Further west, Tuaregs seeking to create an independent state in Mali's northern desert have clashed with Algerian troops. Malian rebels seized a strategic Algerian border town in early February, giving the rebels control of transit and smuggling points in the desert. Africans fleeing war and famine in countries further south have also used porous borders to make their way illegally to European Union countries such as Italy and Greece. Once deported from Europe, many come back over the Mediterranean to Libya. Keib said that North African countries had asked the European Union for assistance in implementing the Tripoli Plan. "We have made it clear to Europe that we will not be a landfill for those that the Europeans throw out," Keib told reporters on Monday.
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News Headline: LRA rebels dangerous even if weakened: UN official | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP - AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE - DIRECTION GENERALE News Text: Lord's Resistance Army rebels in central Africa under their indicted war criminal leader Joseph Kony are still dangerous even if the group has been weakened, a UN official said Tuesday. "Even a small LRA is dangerous," Abou Moussa, head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa, told a news conference in Libreville. Uganda on Friday warned against misrepresenting the threat posed by the brutal rebels after an Internet campaign to bring Kony to justice went viral. The Internet-based video campaign attracted more than 75 million viewers by Tuesday and the hashtag "#stopkony" about the fugitive head of the rebel group has surged on Twitter. The 30-minute film by the California-based advocacy group Invisible Children has earned praise from celebrities, but in Uganda, its timing raised questions. "I don't know who's behind (the anti-Kony campaign), what interests me is how to eliminate this threat," said Moussa. Moussa recalled that anti-LRA measures were being coordinated since November last year when the UN Security Council discussed the case. The LRA is active where the state has failed, said Moussa. US President Barack Obama presented Congress in November with a plan to disarm the LRA rebels. The strategy responds to a law Obama proposed and Congress passed six months earlier to defuse the spiraling bloodshed in central Africa, protect the civilian population and bring LRA leaders to justice. The plan's four objectives also include promoting "the defection, disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of remaining LRA fighters; and... increase humanitarian access and provide continued relief to affected communities."

Ugandan forces drove the rag-tag LRA fighters from northern Uganda in 2006 where they first took up arms two decades ago. They have sown terror across a vast region where the borders of South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic meet. The rebels are notorious for kidnapping boys to serve as child soldiers and girls to act as sex slaves. Kony, a semi-literate former altar boy, took charge in 1988 of a rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority, to fight the Kampala government it wanted to replace by a regime based on the Biblical Ten Commandments. Now believed to be in the Central African Republic, he is accused by the International Criminal Court of the rape, mutilation and murder of civilians as well as forcibly recruiting child soldiers.
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News Headline: General: Kony's rebels now based in CAR | News Date: 03/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Pretoria News - Online News Text: Kinshasa - Fugitive warlord Joseph Kony and leaders of his LRA have been chased out of Democratic Republic of Congo to the neighbouring Central African Republic and no longer pose a threat in Congo, a Congolese general said on Tuesday. The comment follows a complaint by nearby Uganda that Congo was obstructing its USbacked hunt for Kony, who has been thrust into the headlines after a celebrity-backed US Internet campaign calling for his arrest. Self-proclaimed mystic Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. We have reduced the capacity of the LRA. For us it's no longer an issue of defence. It's a public order issue, General Jean Claude Kifwa, who is in charge of fighting the LRA in Congo, told journalists in the capital Kinshasa. Known for using child soldiers and raping and mutilating its victims, Kony's Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army has been blamed by the United Nations for fresh attacks this year in Congo, causing thousands of civilians to flee. Two LRA fighters were killed on Sunday by the Congolese army near the Congolese town of Dungu, but neither were found to have ammunition on them, Kifwa said, adding that much insecurity in the region that has been blamed on the LRA has actually been carried out by local bandits. Kifwa dismissed tensions between Uganda and Congo as small problems and suggested Uganda may be deliberately dragging its feet in the hunt for Kony. Firstly, he's no longer in Uganda. Also the Americans are supporting the Ugandans (against the LRA) and the Ugandans want to benefit from that support, he said. On Monday, Uganda accused Congo of refusing to allow Ugandan troops free movement in Congolese territory. Kifwa confirmed that there were no operational troops from Uganda currently in the country after they pulled out last year.

The LRA, which has operated in the region for more than 20 years, has had widespread news coverage recently after a 30-minute video by US-based NGO Invisible Children went viral and drew the support of celebrities including George Clooney and Angelina Jolie. The Kony 2012 video, now thought to have been seen by tens of millions of people, calls for an international push to have Kony arrested by the end of this year. But the video has drawn criticism for oversimplifying the conflict and not making clear that Kony was driven out of Uganda several years ago. While some criticism of the campaign is valid, it may help push countries in the region and the United States to do more to end the LRA problem, according to Ida Sawyer, Congo analyst for Human Rights Watch. On their own, regional governments have not shown the capability or resolve to protect civilians from LRA abuses or successfully capture the LRA's top leaders, she said. The LRA, which says it is a religious group, first emerged in northern Uganda in the late 1980s. Although it is thought to number just a few hundred, its mobility and the difficulty of the terrain it operates in have made it difficult to tackle. The rebel group has waged a brutal insurgency for years and was ejected from northern Uganda in 2005. It has since roamed remote jungle straddling the borders of Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic. Attempts to negotiate peace failed in 2008 after Kony refused to sign a deal to bring an end to the killing.
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News Headline: AU troops look beyond Mogadishu | News Date: 03/14/2012 Outlet Full Name: Pretoria News - Online News Text: Mogadishu - The African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia hopes to drive Somali Islamist militants out of the country's central and southern regions by August, when the United Nations-backed government's mandate expires, Uganda's top army general said on Tuesday. Since its inception in 2007, the force, known as AMISOM, has focused its military campaign against al-Shabaab rebels on the capital, Mogadishu. However, it expects to deploy troops into former rebel strongholds now held by Kenyan and Ethiopian troops after the United Nations voted last month in favour of increasing troop numbers to more than 17 700. The (African Union) will deploy its troops in southern and central Somalia as soon as possible. We hope Somalia will be completely peaceful before coming August, General Aronda Nyakairima, chief of Uganda's defence forces told reporters. AMISOM has until now consisted almost entirely of Ugandan and Burundian troops. The increase in troops numbers is to a large extent to bring Kenyan forces fighting the insurgents in the country's southern tip under its command. A 100-strong Djibouti contingent arrived in December and more soldiers from the Red Sea state and Sierra Leone are expected to join AMISOM's ranks by April and June respectively.

Nyakairima said Ugandan and Burundian troops would push out into the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions south of Mogadishu still held by al Shabaab. They will also move into central Somalia's Bay and Bakool regions, making Baidoa, which was seized by Ethiopian troops last month, their main base outside the capital. Under the plan, peacekeepers from Kenya and Sierra Leone will secure southern Somalia's Gedo, and Juba regions, with their headquarters in Kismayu. That, however, requires routing al-Shabaab from the port city that has served as the nervecentre of the militant's southern operations and as a financial lifeline. A drawn out battle for Kismayu would risk huge civilian casualties and galvanising support for the militants. Djibouti's troops are expected to hold Galmudug, Galgadud and Hiran regions. Under the terms of a political road map, Somalia must establish a legitimate government seen as inclusive by the country's fractious clans, as well as a new parliament and constituent assembly to replace institutions plagued by corruption and infighting. Although weakened, al-Shabaab is the most powerful of an array of militias spawned by the conflict in Somalia, where armed groups have a history of wrecking attempted political settlements and perpetuating war, instability and famine. Al-Shabaab on Tuesday ordered the charity Save The Children to halt its relief work in areas under rebel control, accusing the organisation of corruption and feeding children out-of-date porridge. (Al-Shabaab) strives to protect the welfare of the entire Muslim population of Somalia and will implement all necessary safety measures to dissuade competing organisations from degrading their quality of life, the group said in a statement. There was no immediate reaction from the aid group. The rebels, who are hostile to foreign intervention in the lawless country, banned the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in January and 16 other organisations in November. Areas governed by al-Shabaab were among the worst hit by a famine in the second half of last year. Local residents and international charities accused the militants of stealing food and blocking aid as one of the worst droughts for decades gripped the region.
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News Headline: Islamist fighters call for Sharia law in Mali | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: AFP - AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE - DIRECTION GENERALE News Text: An armed Islamist group led by an influential Tuareg rebel fighting for autonomy in northern Mali called for the national imposition of Sharia law in a video seen Tuesday by AFP. "It is an obligation for us to fight for the application of Sharia (Islamic law) in Mali," said Cheikh Ag Aoussa, a spokesman of the movement Ancar Dine, which means 'Defenders of Islam' in Arabic.

Ag Aoussa is the right-hand man of its leader Iyad Ag Ghaly, who is shown in the 13-minute video inspecting fighters and leading them in prayer. Ag Ghaly was one of the most prominent figures of a Tuareg rebellion in the 1990s and is thought to have links with a branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) which is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama. Tuareg rebels, many of whom recently returned from fighting for fallen Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, in mid-January struck up their decades-old battle for autonomy for their nomadic desert tribe. The video shows dead and captured soldiers after an attack on the town of Aguelhok, one of many attacked by Tuareg in violence which has led some 170,000 people to flee their homes. The movement claimed it had seized the military base. "The Malian government has reinforced its military strength in our areas and we have decided to defend ourselves," said Ag Aoussa, speaking in Tamashek, the language of the Tuareg. France said some 82 soldiers and civilians had been "summarily executed" in the town, accusing the killers of adopting Al-Qaeda-style tactics. Several sources have suggested that AQIM -- which has long plagued the northern region, kidnapping westerners -- has been fighting alongside the rebels, but the insurgents have denied this. One of the captured soldiers, identifying himself as Corporal Hassan from the Gao 7th Company, says in the video: "We are 30 prisoners -- two Tuareg, four Arabs, the others from the south. "We are in the hands of Ancar Dine after the battle in Aguelhok." Images also showed the movement firing on a military camp which appeared to be that of Aguelhok. Inside a truck and an armoured vehicle are in flames.
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News Headline: Official: Invest in children for peace in Somalia | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: Associated Press (AP) News Text: DHOBLEY, Somalia (AP) Adan Abdi worries that the students in his class show too little interest in education. That might be a common complaint among teachers, but Abdi's concerns go further: His students are interested in playing war. Abdi is a teacher in southern Somalia, a region that has been dominated by militia violence for years. "Students here are not so much interested in learning because they can see a lot of people carrying guns," said the 22-year-old English teacher. "Small guys like them are carrying guns, when they go from (school) to their houses ... they pretend to be fighting using sticks like guns. "That's what they have in their hearts. Their intention: That they will fight when they grow older," Abdi said.

UNICEF says an entire generation of children has grown up knowing only conflict and fighting in many parts of Somalia, and possibly thousands of children have been trained in combat. Sikander Khan, the top official for the U.N. children's agency in Somalia, says there is an increased need to invest more in Somalia's youth and children to give long-term peace a chance to prevail. "We need to make sure that this generation receives quality basic education, access to social services and protection from violence and abuse," he said. "This will stop them being sucked into the continuing violence and they will then be able to make a positive and lasting contribution to the future of Somalia." Many children in Somalia have little or no education. Only about a third of children of primaryschool age are enrolled in school, according to UNICEF. Children in Somalia are frequently forced to join armed groups such as the al-Qaida-linked alShabab. Schools have also come under attack. "It is estimated that thousands of children have been trained in the use of arms and other skills related to combat. Reports from our partners indicate that in recent months there has been an increase in the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by warring partners," Khan said. Mohamed Deq Nur, a 14-year-old student in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, said he remembers 2006 because he went a month without hearing a gunshot. That year a group called the Islamic Courts Union brought some semblance of order when they took control of Somalia and tried to enforce their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Mohamed says he has seen dead bodies on the street most recently, he said, when a man was shot because he refused to give a thief his watch. Mohamed said he doesn't know how to use a gun but thinks it would be good to learn for self protection. Last year, he said, he and many of his friends begged their parents to get them out of Mogadishu. But he said he thinks things are now getting better. Regional troops are pushing al-Shabab on three sides, giving the government a chance to try to restore order. "I don't think Somalia had any future before, but this year is different," he said. "Squatters are being evicted from school buildings which means there will be enough space for learning and there is already free education in some schools and the fighting stopped in Mogadishu." Somalia has been in conflict since the 1991, when long-term dictator Siad Barre was overthrown by warlords who then turned on each other. Al-Shabab has had a grip on much of south-central Somalia for the last several years, but now faces hostile militaries on three sides. Al-Shabab was pushed out of the capital last year. Khan says the violence has deprived children of their childhood. Because of the conflict, many are also at risk of disease and malnutrition, among other safety risks, because of the lack of an effective central government. Somalia had one of the worst child mortality rates in the world. One out of every six children die before their 5th birthday, he said. For Abdi, the teacher, who attended high school in neighboring Kenya, 100 more students have enrolled in his school since al-Shabab insurgents were kicked out of town last year by

Somali government forces. The trend of increased enrollments seems to be the same throughout Somalia, increasing from some 285,000 in 2003-2004 to more than 760,000 in the 2011-2012 school year, according to Sikander. In Dhobley, Somali government forces who are now backed by Kenyan troops have brought relative peace and stability to the town, Abdi said. Before that, many residents had moved away because of al-Shabab's brutal rule. He admits in the current situation, even he is looking for opportunities to leave. "I cannot move because my family is here and I don't know anywhere else to go," he said.
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News Headline: Kony 2012: 75 million viewers later, some Ugandans get first glimpse of film |

News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: Christian Science Monitor - Online News Text: Nairobi, Kenya - Soon after sunset Tuesday, on a projector screen in a dusty park in the center of a northern Ugandan town, survivors of Joseph Kony's war of terror will watch the film about him that has swept the world and been watched more than 75 million times on YouTube. Few in Lira, once the epicentre of fighting between Kony's rebels and the Ugandan armed forces, have access to the Internet at speeds that will allow the 30-minute film to stream. But Victor Ochen, director of a Ugandan charity working with people abducted or maimed by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is making sure that they will be able to see Kony2012. We have brought a projector up here and a very big screen, and even as I talk to you, we are setting it up in Lira Mayor's Garden, he tells the Monitor from the town, 220 miles north of the capital, Kampala. It is only right that this thing which is being talked about in every corner of the world is also seen by the people whose story it sets out to tell. The film, made by Invisible Children Inc., a San Diego-based activist organization, aims to focus US efforts to help bring about the arrest of Joseph Kony (pronounced Kohn), the LRA's leader. While it has spawned a global debate on the merits of Invisible Children's movie and social media campaign, little of the reaction even from within Uganda has come from those who have lived for years in the shadow of the conflict. Mr. Kony's 26-year war started in northern Uganda, where tens of thousands of children were abducted to be soldiers, wives, or porters, and where thousands more who resisted were permanently disfigured. Kony became the first suspect indicted by the International Criminal Court, in 2005, and faces 33 charges including murder, rape and kidnapping children. Invisible Children, and Kony2012's director, Jason Russell, have been criticized for oversimplifying the conflict's causes and for spending more money on management, media, and movies than on grass-roots projects. This issue 'still needs more attention' But Mr. Ochen, whose brother and cousin were both kidnapped by the LRA and are still

missing, says the criticism misses a key point. How would we ever be able to have so much global attention come to us, on an issue which has been running for almost three decades, and which still needs more attention on a daily basis, he asks. That film has put Kony's name on people's lips. They are asking questions, they are trying to understand. The film is not without its challenges, but the more people get connected directly to the victims, and the more that people understand what Kony did here, and what he may still be doing in other countries, the more everyone can work together for real, long-lasting peace. Fred Opolot, a spokesman in the office of Uganda's president, Yoweri Museveni, agrees. We are encouraged by this outpouring of international support for our continuing campaign to eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to all countries and communities, he said in an emailed statement. Uganda welcomes all campaigns which seek to raise awareness and highlight the plight of people affected by the LRA. LRA no longer active in Uganda However, even this praise is tempered by an implicit reprimand of the film-makers, as Opolot goes on to say: Misinterpretations of media content may lead some people to believe that the LRA is currently active in Uganda. It must be clarified that at present the LRA is not active in any part of Uganda. The LRA has retreated to dense terrain within bordering countries in the Central African area. They are a diminished and weakened group with numbers not exceeding 300. Growing numbers of Ugandan bloggers, newspaper columnists, and individual citizens are making public their concerns with the film, most of which center on claims that it fudges the current status of the conflict, and that it portrays the war as winnable, or Kony as stoppable, only with Western interventions. Military response a right one? Via the film, Invisible Children's main aim appears to be to encourage its supporters to pressure Washington to maintain funding for 100 US military advisers, currently training armies in four African nations affected by the LRA Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One wonders why this campaign came now, and why the call for direct military intervention and not dialogue - when everybody knows that in 26 years, the military intervention has failed to bring that war to an end, Samuel Olara, editor of the Acholi Times, wrote in a newspaper editorial. The Acholi are the people of northern Uganda worst affected by the LRA conflict. The people in northern Uganda have always advocated dialogue and a political solution to this Kony-Museveni war because they know that killing Kony won't fix the problem, just like killing Osama bin Laden has not ended terrorism. Invisible Children has responded to many of its critics, and said: The Kony2012 campaign

supports the deployment of US advisers and the provision of intelligence and other support that can help locate and bring Kony to justice, but also increased diplomacy to hold regional governments accountable to their basic responsibilities to protect civilians from this kind of brutal violence. Importantly, the campaign also advocates for broader measures to help communities being affected by LRA attacks, such as increased funding for programs to help Kony's abductees escape and return to their homes and families.
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News Headline: Ministers push for return of refugees | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: Daily Nation - Online News Text: Thousands of Somali refugees at Dadaab Camp in northern Kenya should be resettled in their country, two Cabinet ministers have said. Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his Foreign Affairs counterpart, Mr Moses Wetang'ula, on monday told Parliament's Defence and Foreign Relations Committee that the refugees posed security, economic and political threats to the area. At a meeting in Nairobi's County Hall, the two ministers, who sit in the National Security Council, said the 630,000 refugees would be relocated to liberated areas of Somalia. The ministers revealed that they had been in touch with the UN secretary-general Ban Kimoon, and other humanitarian agencies, to help relocate the refugees. That there were 630,000 refugees in an area occupied by 150,000 locals worries the authorities in Kenya. We're not asking them to relocate the refugees to Europe. We're saying that Somalia is safe, Mr Wetang'ula said. The ministers said the threat of Al-Shabaab was no longer potent within the relocation area, and pushed for the aid agencies and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to step in and relocate the refugees. Mr Wetang'ula noted a reasonable degree of ambivalence among the aid agencies regarding the call for relocation of refugees, but insisted that it was not uncharted territory to send refugees back to their homeland as soon as the threat to their lives is eliminated. We're not being cruel. It is not right in the 21st Century to have 630,000 people living in the squalid conditions of a refugee camp. It is unacceptable, Mr Wetang'ula said. The minister said that as soon as boreholes are drilled; health facilities built or renovated, and the socio-economic activity is revived in the liberated areas, the Somalis will have no reason to stay in Kenya. Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi and Defence Minister Yusuf Hajj also attended the meeting.
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News Headline: Kenya: Nation Gets 16 Plum Posts in Amisom |

News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: AllAfrica.com News Text: Nairobi, Kenya Kenya will now occupy 16 top positions in the new command structure of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi said on Monday that meeting of regional military chiefs in Ethiopia had among other duties designated Kenya to take up one of the two deputy commanders' posts. Karangi who appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, said the Kenya Defence Force will also be in charge of Information and Intelligence in AMISOM. "The force headquarters in Mogadishu will have 85 military officers and out of those 16 will be Kenyans. Under the new command structure the force commander is going to be a Ugandan General with two deputies at the level of Major-General one from Kenya the other Burundi," Karangi said. He assured the committee that implementing resolutions of the meeting in Addis Ababa will not diminish KDF's clout adding that the new format will be broken into four sectors with Kenya manning part of the eastern bloc upwards to River Juba. "The AMISOM mandate in Somalia is not about peace keeping; there is no peace to be kept in Somalia. The posture that we adopted when we crossed into Somalia last year remains the same on air, land and sea," he explained. The United Nations Security Council last month ratified the expansion of AMISOM troops as well as its mandate, to include the pursuit of the Islamist Al Shabaab militia. "We will be giving 4,660 troops to the restructured AMISOM force, which is the same as what we have on ground currently," said the KDF commander. Kenyan troops entered Somalia in pursuit of Al Shabaab militia in October last year. Sierra Leone has also promised to send its troops to beef up the peace-enforcement force in Somalia. Under the new structure each of the Kenyan soldiers will be paid an additional monthly allowance of Sh84,398 (USD1,028) for the mission in Somalia. "Our ability to deal with the enemy in Somalia is not diminished in any way. We'll still pursue them on air, land and sea. We'll be doing the same thing that Operation Linda Nchi has been doing, but at the expense of other entities," said Karangi. He said the move to rehat Kenyan forces was part of the KDF's "exit strategy". The military chief added that Kenya had managed to create a "fairly safe buffer" in Somalia. He presented classified maps and other operational details about the military incursion in Somalia during a closed-door session.
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News Headline: Tribal attacks wrench South Sudan as disarmament starts | Top News | Reuters |

News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: Thomson Reuters - Africa - Online News Text: KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Cattle raiders in South Sudan launched a major assault on a rival tribe, causing heavy loss of life, officials said on Monday, as the government began a disarmament plan to halt the tit-for-tat attacks that have torn the new nation. Members of Jonglei state's Murle tribe attacked people from the Lou Nuer group in an area near the Ethiopian border over the weekend, South Sudan's military spokesman Philip Aguer said. Citing reports from local officials, he said that up to 300 people may have been killed in the raids. South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between north and south. It was a moment of euphoria for many southerners, but the young government has struggled to assert control over a territory roughly the size of France, awash with guns and hit by violence between competing tribes. Aguer said violence hit the Wanding area. "The Murle were attacking the Nuer there," he said. "They took a large number of cattle, and many people were killed." The governor of Jonglei state and other local officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The attack was apparently in response to Lou Nuer raids on Murle settlements in December last year, including on the town of Pibor, which killed hundreds of people. Two United Nations officials confirmed that the raids against the Lou Nuer camps had taken place, but said they could not yet confirm specific numbers of casualties. A lack of roads, electricity and stable communications complicate the task of confirming casualty figures in South Sudan, where tribal violence often breaks out in remote regions of what is one of the world's least developed countries. The war with the north, fought for all but a few years between 1955 and 2005, also left the country awash with weapons. About 2 million people died in the conflict. Aguer said the latest tribal violence would not halt a disarmament campaign which the government launched in Jonglei state on Monday. "All of them, the Murle, the Dinka, the Nuer - all the tribes in Jonglei state carrying illegal arms will have to be disarmed completely," he said, listing the state's three largest tribes. "Whatever time it will take the army to collect, they will continue doing it," he said. "The responsibility of protection of civilians belongs to the government, not the individuals." He said the army was capable of both preventing further attacks and collecting weapons. Many members of the Murle tribe complain the army is dominated by the Dinka and Nuer tribes, however, highlighting the difficulties of disarmament. Aid workers say previous disarmament campaigns have been poorly managed and have failed to halt violence.
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News Headline: Uganda: Caritas Starts New Project for 28,000 Affected By LRA | News Date: 03/13/2012

Outlet Full Name: AllAfrica.com News Text: Bas-Uele A Catholic humanitarian organisation, CARITAS has started a socioeconomic reintegration project for more than 28,000 people who have been affected by activities of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Bondo and Butu in the Bas-Uele District of Province Orientale. According to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the project aims to improve food security by re-launching the agricultural sector through the provision of agricultural inputs and food as well as the improvement of market access through the rehabilitation of 84 kilometres of roads. So far more than 3,000 persons have been displaced in 2012 as a result of LRA attacks in the Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele Districts, according to OCHA. In total about 20 attacks the latest reported on March 8, 2012 have been reported with one person killed and 17 kidnapped. Abducted people typically end up as porters while children end up as sexual slaves and child soldiers. As per the numbers compiled by OCHA and UNHCR, LRA attacks in Congo have caused the internal displacement of 320,000 people while around 30,000 Congolese citizens have sought refuge in the Central African Republic and the Republic of South Sudan since 2008.
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News Headline: Inaugural African Partnership Flight Soars | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: U.S. Africa Command News Text: ACCRA, Ghana, Mar 13, 2012 Airmen from U.S. Air Forces Africa participated in the opening ceremony of the inaugural African Partnership Flight event March 12, 2012 at Air Force Base Accra, Ghana. The event, hosted by the Ghanaian Air Force, is a two-week, military-to-military multilateral and regional engagement designed to improve regional cooperation partnerships, and the readiness of all countries' service members. More than 160 airmen from the Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Senegal air forces were welcomed to the event by Air Commodore Emanuel Ahadome, Ghana air officer, logistics. "The importance of training to our military profession cannot be over emphasized," Ahadome said. "The need to be educated and have good knowledge of best practices in ways of carrying out our tasks is very crucial to the success of any modern air force." He continued by saying the program would enable participants to exchange ideas and upgrade knowledge of best practices in modern air forces and the aviation industry. Several airmen from U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command and North Dakota National Guard will support APF. "At the end, if we do nothing more than strengthen relationships, old and new, that's value added," said Colonel Dave Poage, APF mission commander. "Just getting to know each other and creating partnerships among a myriad of organizations will make it successful."

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News Headline: U.S. Navy Sailor from West Africa Brings Community Values to Djibouti |

News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: U.S. Africa Command News Text: CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti, Mar 13, 2012 For U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Boubacar Djibo, enlisting in the military initially meant an opportunity for better education, but it ultimately provided him something more--a sense of community. In his birthplace of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, community was everything, said Djibo, a personnel specialist and strength management leading petty officer at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. "People are very close-knit--there is a great sense of solidarity," said Djibo. "Everybody's problem is everybody else's problem." The sense of community in his native country resembles that of most small towns in the U.S., said Djibo, where everyone pitches in to help. Compared to other Ouagadougou residents, Djibo said his family was very fortunate. His father, Sinaly Djibo, worked as an elementary school teacher before transitioning to diplomacy. He served as Burkina Faso's ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1978 to 1981. Djibo and his family lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for two years, where the embassies were located. He and his six siblings attended school with children of international diplomats. "It was kind of different because we really didn't have a chance to play with a lot of kids like we used to back home," said Djibo. "We were able to go to some of the other kids' houses, but it definitely wasn't the same." After returning to Burkina Faso, Djibo completed his secondary education and then attended the University of Ouagadougou, where he earned his University Diploma of Technology in accounting. This degree is between a U.S. associate and bachelor's degree. To pursue his bachelor's degree in accounting, Djibo traveled to America in 1998 with the U.S. State Department's Diversity Visa Program, which allows up to 55,000 people from other countries to temporarily live in the U.S. Djibo enlisted in the Navy in April 1999 to travel and help pay for his education. He then received his American citizenship in 2003. One similarity Djibo noticed between his life in Burkina Faso and the Navy was the sense of community he experienced. Djibo enjoys participating in the various assistance programs and community service opportunities available on and off camp. In his first month, Djibo volunteered for English Discussion Group, Camp Lemonnier's mortuary affairs program and the U.S. Navy Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program. English Discussion Group visits several local schools and is a good venue for helping Djiboutian students practice their English, Djibo said.

"I really enjoy the English Discussion Group," Djibo said. "I like interacting with (the students) and helping them learn to speak English." Djibo also recognizes the importance of the other programs available for people on camp. He devotes as much time as he can to helping others, he said. "I basically try to get involved as much as I can to make sure people are taken care of," said Djibo. His job responsibilities include welcoming new personnel to the camp and making sure their arrival, billeting and departure go smoothly. "One of the attributes I really admire about Djibo is his desire to include everyone in the community we've established here," said U.S. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Paul Matheny, administrative department leading chief petty officer and Djibo's supervisor here. "He doesn't just get himself involved--he tries to get others involved. With him, it's really all about inclusion. It's not just about what he can do, it's about what we can do." Djibo and his wife, Sita, also strive to instill their shared values in their three children, he said. "We do teach them everything we were taught--sense of solidarity, selflessness and pride in hard and honest work," said Djibo. "Really, we realize we are all here and have what we have because others gave."
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News Headline: Army Africa, Tennessee National Guard Personnel Journey to Uganda | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: U.S. Army Africa Public Afffairs News Text: STUTTGART, Germany, Mar 13, 2012 Africa Deployment Assistance Partnership Teams (ADAPT) personnel from U.S. Army Africa and Tennessee National Guard traveled to Uganda February 20-24, 2012 to conduct Phase I training for 27 members (17 Army and 10 Air Force) of the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF). ADAPT utilizes joint military traveling contact teams, such as the Tennessee National Guard, to conduct classroom instruction and hands-on training to introduce the host military to a range of deployment tasks, such as unit movement planning, hazardous material handling and compatibility, movement control basics, and air load planning to build host nation deployment capacity via a phased, long term approach. ADAPT Phase I teaches how to prepare unit personnel, equipment and vehicles for air lift as well as plan the load plan for the transporting aircraft. According to Lieutenant Colonel Paul Webb, deputy chief, Plans, Exercises, Programs & Policies, this phase is very well received by African forces, and USARAF instructors have seen vast improvements in the performance of military personnel on this crucial deployment task. "The Uganda students were very attentive and courteous during training and it was a genuine pleasure to be involved with such an eager group," Webb said. "Both Lieutenant Colonel Scott Suchomski and Major Tony Miller [from Tennessee National Guard] were excellent instructors and well prepared for training -- I would highly recommend them both as instructors for future ADAPT events." Miller said he was constantly amazed at the Ugandans eagerness to learn.

"They were very proud of their country and the professionalism they displayed was unsurpassed," Miller said. "I was fully expecting a capable group of students ready to participate in the class; however, I was surprised that by the end of the week we had developed close, personal relationships. I now consider many of the students as close friends and see them as a true partner in the profession of arms." ADAPT bridges the gap between African nations limited deployment capacity and its willingness to participate in Peace Keeping Operations/Humanitarian Relief Operations. Fostering these positive relationships between the U.S. and African military forces increases deployment interoperability with U.S. forces in joint/combined operations, training and exercises. "By the end of the week of instruction, I was honored to have been part of the ADAPT program and was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism of the Ugandan soldiers," Suchomski said. "During the hands-on portion of training, the UPDF soldiers did not hesitate to get their hands dirty during the portion of how to prepare a 463L pallet. They were constantly asking questions and provided me valuable feedback as to how we can improve training," he said. A keystone of the ADAPT program is that training is tailored to match an individual partner's needs and capabilities. According to Webb, USARAF training includes activities to establish an enduring deployment operations training capacity in each partner nation. Overseeing the maintenance of trainer skills and refresher training as required are part of the long-term ADAPT program. USARAF continues to partner with countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Botswana, Ghana, Burundi, and Togo, and is seeking to expand the program to other countries in the future. Webb shared that more than half of the peacekeepers in Africa are Africans and the United States has trained most of them via programs like ADAPT. "The ADAPT program is a great opportunity not only from the aspect of the host countries, but for U.S. Army personnel," Suchomski said. "The UPDF soldiers were professional in every aspect and valued the training they received. I left Uganda with a great respect for the UPDF as a valuable partner with the U.S. Army and with many friendships -- given the opportunity to participate in another ADAPT mission, I would go in a heartbeat."
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News Headline: United Nations News Centre - Africa Briefs | News Date: 03/13/2012 Outlet Full Name: United Nations News Service News Text: South Sudan: UN mission responds to new outbreak of violence in Jonglei state 13 March The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan today said it has sent patrol units and a medical team to an area on the country's border with Ethiopia where unidentified raiders reportedly attacked several cattle camps occupied by members of the Lou Nuer ethnic group.
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