Nigerian troops are expected to strengthen an African force in Somalia in January and prevent a security vacuum when Ethiopian soldiers pull out, the African Union said yesterday.
Ethiopia's decision to withdraw its 3,000 or so troops from the anarchic Horn of Africa nation by the end of the year has raised fears that the fractured, western-backed government will collapse and Islamist insurgents seize the capital Mogadishu.
The Islamists control the south of Somalia and launch near-daily attacks on the Ethiopians propping up the government and 3,200 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi guarding key sites in Mogadishu.
"The president of Nigeria has confirmed to me personally that one Nigerian battalion will be sent to Somalia in a short time," African Union commission chairman Jean Ping said.
The battalion numbers about 850 officers and men.
More than 10,000 civilians have been killed during the two-year insurgency, one million people have been uprooted and one-third of the population needs emergency aid. - (Reuters)