https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljMRMK6kGFA

Burundi to withdraw troops from AU Somalia mission

Nairobi - Burundi on Monday began the process of withdrawing its troops from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) due to a dispute with the EU over the payment of wages.

Amisom salaries are paid by the EU but have not been received in Bujumbura for months as European diplomats seek to avoid sending money directly to a government against which the bloc imposed sanctions in response to a nearly two-year-long political crisis.

The EU wants to pay the salaries, worth $5.3m per month, directly to the troops.

But with no agreement yet made President Pierre Nkurunziza has instructed his foreign and defence ministers to begin the process of withdrawing Burundi's 5 400 soldiers, roughly one quarter of the Amisom total.

If the Burundian withdrawal goes ahead it could seriously weaken the ability of Amisom to fight the Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group committed to overthrowing Somalia's internationally-backed government.

"We have decided to begin the process, as we have long promised, because our troops engaged with Amisom cannot continue to work without being paid," said first vice-president Gaston Sindimwo.

Burundi's government threatened the withdrawal of its troops last month.

"We would like to continue supporting and securing Somalia, but we are obliged to put the withdrawal mechanisms in place," Sindimwo said, adding that Burundian soldiers have not been paid for 12 months.

Burundi has been in the throes of a serious, sometimes deadly political crisis since April 2015 when Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term which opponents said was unconstitutional.

He went on to win an election in July that was boycotted by the opposition and criticised by outside observers.

Violence in Burundi has so far killed at least 500 people and driven more than 300 000 to leave the country.

The EU's decision to suspend payment of Burundian soldiers' salaries via Bujumbura is part of efforts to increase pressure on the government.

In March, the European Union - Burundi's largest donor - suspended direct aid to the regime.

The African Union, which is due to hold its next summit in Addis Ababa at the end of January, in November condemned the EU decision to suspend payment of Burundian soldiers' wages, warning of a potentially negative impact on the security situation in Somalia.

africaken254:


link http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/burundi-to-withdraw-troops-from-au-somalia-mission-20170116

frumentius:


And yet you, the civilian, tried to argue with me, the man in uniform, when I told you Kenya will never be re-imbursed for the use of its naval assets in Kismayo because:

1) When Kenya incurred the expense, it was a unilateral mission and not part of AMISOM;
2) AMISOM is an AU - not UN - mission and the AU doesn't have the funds;
3) The EU and the US voluntarily fund AMISOM and can withdraw their funding anytime for whatever reason;
4) The UN only has a political mission, UNSOM, to support Somalia's nascent government and to sometimes help with airlift for AMISOM; and
5) UN approval for AMISOM =/= UN funding.

Poland completes overhaul of Senegal’s Mi-24 attack helicopter

Fidha254:
essencial Amisom is an AU mission, but with APROVAL from the UN, and specifically, its mandated by the UN security council...

africaken254:
Poland completes overhaul of Senegal’s Mi-24 attack helicopter

frumentius:


In this day and age, I don't understand any country still wasting money with band-aid and patches to their Mi-24s, when they can summons Paramount for reconstructive surgery to SuperHind, like Algeria.

Somali Army troops graduate from a Combat course in built up areas

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrlaCLa-eKg

chkil:


there is the World Military football Cup this days in Oman (15 to 28 january 2017 ) , from africa there is teams of : mali, egypt, algeria , guinea .... and algeria won the last world title in 2015 , and 2011 also

africaken254:
French rafale jets low flying in Mali

frumentius:


Exactly what I've been saying all along.
And since the AU doesn't have the funds to re-imburse Kenya and other AMISOM participating countries, they went begging to the EU and the US. Both those entities aren't funding because of the milk of human kindness, but for realpolitik self-interest.
And since he who pays the piper plays the tune, there's a price to pay should the participating countries refuse either to dance, or get it into their heads that they'd prefer a taraab tune to the piper's waltz. As Burundi has just found out.

Trump's team has also just asked the State Department to justify why the US continues to fund AMISOM after 10 years "with no Al-Shabaab defeat".

The moral of the story: the African contribution to the AU's funds cannot continue to be funded by mainly 4 countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. 50 countries collectively pay about $40 million (with many still in arrears) whilst the 4 pay over $250 million! Of course Gaddafi used to pay for some of them so that they'd vote for his mad schemes, but that era is gone.

That's before we even ask why the AU should be funded by donors!

gottfried21:
Nigeria is deploying it's newest ship NNS Unity to Gambia
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-38281555?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=587e3ca1e4b0b4f965d3d335%26Nigeria%20'deploys%20warship'%20to%20The%20Gambia%26&ns_fee=0#post_587e3ca1e4b0b4f965d3d335

frumentius:


Exactly what I've been saying all along.
And since the AU doesn't have the funds to re-imburse Kenya and other AMISOM participating countries, they went begging to the EU and the US. Both those entities aren't funding because of the milk of human kindness, but for realpolitik self-interest.
And since he who pays the piper plays the tune, there's a price to pay should the participating countries refuse either to dance, or get it into their heads that they'd prefer a taraab tune to the piper's waltz. As Burundi has just found out.

Trump's team has also just asked the State Department to justify why the US continues to fund AMISOM after 10 years "with no Al-Shabaab defeat".

The moral of the story: the African contribution to the AU's funds cannot continue to be funded by mainly 4 countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. 50 countries collectively pay about $40 million (with many still in arrears) whilst the 4 pay over $250 million! Of course Gaddafi used to pay for some of them so that they'd vote for his mad schemes, but that era is gone.

That's before we even ask why the AU should be funded by donors!

2 suspected poachers killed by police in Tsavo East National Park; AK47 gun and 13 rounds of ammunition recovered.

frumentius:


Exactly what I've been saying all along.
And since the AU doesn't have the funds to re-imburse Kenya and other AMISOM participating countries, they went begging to the EU and the US. Both those entities aren't funding because of the milk of human kindness, but for realpolitik self-interest.
And since he who pays the piper plays the tune, there's a price to pay should the participating countries refuse either to dance, or get it into their heads that they'd prefer a taraab tune to the piper's waltz. As Burundi has just found out.

Trump's team has also just asked the State Department to justify why the US continues to fund AMISOM after 10 years "with no Al-Shabaab defeat".

The moral of the story: the African contribution to the AU's funds cannot continue to be funded by mainly 4 countries: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa. 50 countries collectively pay about $40 million (with many still in arrears) whilst the 4 pay over $250 million! Of course Gaddafi used to pay for some of them so that they'd vote for his mad schemes, but that era is gone.

That's before we even ask why the AU should be funded by donors!

Tullow hits a big oil well in Turkana,kenya

British explorer, Tullow Oil, has hit another oil bonanza in Kenya, taking the country closer to hitting one billion barrels of recoverable reserves. The company today announced more finds at the Erut-1 well in Turkana basin, in what is set to lift the country’s estimates of the black gold from 750 million barrels. “We are on track with our 1 billion+ barrels of oil target,” the firm said in a statement, citing ongoing exploration works.

The latest find involved drilling vertically through 25 metres of rock reservoir holding oil, which is similar to 25 metres of net oil pay. Tullow, however, declined to disclose the amount of barrels struck. “We cannot yet extrapolate exactly how much oil that is but it’s very encouraging,” the explorer said.

Tullow struck Kenya’s first oil in Turkana’s Lokichar basin in 2012 and followed it with a string of other finds that have put the country on the path to becoming an oil producer. The company is set to start churning out 2,000 barrels of crude oil daily for early small-scale exports in June as part of Kenyan government’s plan to test the global market.

The explorer last April announced another find that elevated Kenya’s recoverable reserves by 25 per cent from 600 million barrels to 750 million barrels. The latest wet well, Erut-1, was a virgin exploration field (wildcat well) without previous record for oil reserves.

It was drilled 1.3 kilometres with the overall oil column for the field considered to be 100 to 125 metres, according to Tullow.

Henry240:
PRESS RELEASE
Re: THE RANN ACCIDENTAL AIR STRIKE

tdayof:


So painful now anger should be transferred to BHT.

Conduct more airstrikes on their positions.

tdayof:


So painful now anger should be transferred to BHT.

Conduct more airstrikes on their positions.

Henry240:


It's unfortunate that 4 countries have to pay $250 million each year while the other 50 pay a paltry $50 million. Each country should be pulling it's fair share.