The upcoming IGAD Chiefs of Defence Staff meeting
In accordance with the decision of the 15th IGAD Extraordinary Summit, Senior Experts and Chiefs of Defence Staff meetings will take place from 19th to 21st July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All the member states have confirmed their attendance as the issue at hand is critical to Somalia, the region and beyond.
The meeting of the senior experts and the Chiefs of Defence Staff is expected to conduct an extensive discussion on the current situation in Somalia and the challenges faced by the TFG.
It is to be recalled that the IGAD summit, in its communiqué, had clearly articulated that the conflict in Somalia is not a conflict among the Somalis but a war between the people of Somalia and international terrorist groups. Accordingly, the summit decided to deploy 2,000 more peace-keepers under AMISOM and to work with all parties including AMISOM and the UN Security Council to raise 20,000 troops to be deployed throughout the country.
The meeting of the Senior Experts and Chiefs of Defence Staff will consider in detail the report and recommendations of the military mission which recently visited Mogadishu and is expected to come up with concrete plan of action for its implementation. The meeting would also look into how best the TFG forces can be strengthened and their capacity enhanced. The Chiefs are also expected to submit a plan on the deployment of the 2,000 forces that IGAD committed itself to deploy. The deployment of this contingent is designed to help AMISOM reach the originally authorised troop level.