NATO & EU Peacekeeping

A team of 27 British soldiers arrived in Uganda on Sunday to train UPDF soldiers soon to be deployed in Somalia in cordon and search operations, patrolling and civil-military relations.  The team will train Ugandans for two weeks before their deployment to fight al-Shabaab militants in the second phase of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

EU Counter Piracy Naval Forces (EUNAVFOR) have tracked down and stopped a group of suspected pirates who were believed to have tried to attack a Hong-Kong flagged tanker approximately 400 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.  EU Naval Force warship FS Aconit was called to investigate after the tanker came under attack on 26 March 2012.

The UK is preparing to pull 1,500 troops out of Afghanistan next year before rapidly accelerating its withdrawal at the beginning of 2014.  Ministers are expected to endorse plans that stick closely to advice from British commanders in Helmand, and from Nato headquarters in Kabul, when they come before the National Security Council (NSC).

Until now, the European Union's Operation Atalanta, which targets pirates off the coast of Somalia, has been restricted to purely maritime operations. But that could soon change, now that the EU has agreed on a controversial expansion of the mission.  Last Friday, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to expand the operation to include the coastal region.

The European Union has agreed to expand its mission against Somali pirates by allowing military forces to attack land targets as well as those at sea.  In a two-year extension of its mission, EU defence ministers agreed warships could target boats and fuel dumps.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Sir William Patey, 58, who finishes his posting at the end of the week, said the world would be making a "monumental historical mistake" if it did not continue to provide financial and other support to Afghanistan following the 2014 deadline.  Nato combat forces are due to complete their withdrawal by the end of 2014, when security for the country will be handed over to Afghan security forces.

Ethiopia, which has deployed hundreds of troops in Somalia to fight Islamist insurgents, will withdraw them by the end of April, the African Union said Friday.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The top commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan has ordered retraining of coalition forces after seven civilians were killed in a military operation last week in the southern part of the country, coalition officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Gen. John Allen sent a letter to Afghan President Hamid Karzai saying NATO was aggressively investigating the deaths.