Nairobi/Addis Abba - Somalia's Western-backed government needs military assistance in the wake of a suicide bombing at an African Union mission in Mogadishu, an AU official said Saturday. "They need arms and arms which are superior. We know if we go after al-Shabaab, we can destroy them in no time" said the AU's special representative for Somalia, Nicolas Bwakira, referring to the group that has been trying to oust the Western-recognized government.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack, in which suicide bombers drove two cars bearing United Nations logos onto a base operated by AMISOM, the AU's mission in Somalia, and detonated them, leaving 21 dead, including 17 peacekeepers.
The attack was in response to a US-launched operation on Monday in Somalia that killed Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, wanted in connection with terrorist attacks in Kenya.
It was, to date, the worst attack on the peacekeeping mission, composed of 5,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi. An additional 3,000 troops have been promised to the mission, but Nigeria and Ghana have resisted sending their forces into the danger zone.
But Bwakira said nations interested in peacekeeping have to overcome such concerns.
"Peacekeepers do not come to play football or to go to the beach," he said. "There is a risk in any peacekeeping."
Ugandan forces have said they will continue operations despite the attack.
