The international presence in the lawless state of Somalia has wavered over the years, especially in the wake of the United States’ black hawk tragedy. Yet the US and the EU, involved in their own fight against the threat of radical militant Islamists, are fully aware of the vulnerabilities that such a ‘failed state’ is party to. Together, the two have funded a million-dollar initiative training African Union soldiers in bases in Uganda. And in a bid to reinforce the severely underfunded and undermanned African Union peacekeeping force on the ground in Mogadishu, the EU and the US were the main impetus behind the most recent AU decision to deploy an additional 2,000 troops to the Somali capital, increasing the number of AU troops to 8,000. 

The troops are being sent with a specific mandate – to counter the efforts of the radical Muslim Al-Shabab insurgency. Since capturing the southern port of Kismayo in 2009, Al-Shabab militants have declared their close alliance with al-Quaeda, and have been rapidly making their way up the coast to Mogadishu. Over 40 people were killed two weeks ago in twin bomb attacks in Uganda's capital, Kampala, which al-Shabab claimed responsibility for.

There is no doubt that Somalia is in great need of some sort of stability – however it is highly doubtful that this will be accomplished by a mere 8,000 AU troops, equipped with mediocre kit and intensely focused on the suppression of one among hundreds [if not thousands] of radical Islamist groups in Somalia. When one thinks of Somalia today, it is more than likely that the word ‘pirate’ is one of the first that comes to mind – and not without reason. The east African nation of nearly 9 million has been in a virtual state of anarchy for the past 20 years, since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. Over the last two decades the ensuing power vacuum has left the nation in the grip of a series of embattled warlords [of which the pirates are a seafaring breed], while over a million Somalis have died from famine, disease and direct involvement in the ongoing conflict.

While Al Shabab poses a grave and immediate threat, truth be told, they’re just the tip of the iceberg. According to sources within Somalia, hundreds of extremist fighters, many with dual Somali nationality are operating amid the confusion of the state. More worryingly, officials say that many of the fighters bring to Somalia their experience in the battlefields Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. And what exactly are the AU troops fighting to protect? The current “government” in Somalia is corrupt, shaky at best and propped up by the UN – and it holds to its name a mere few heavily barricaded blocks of the capital. The international community needs desperately to shift its focus from the limited sea-faring treat that Somalia poses, to the potentially devastating threat that the nation poses as a training ground and international launch-pad for global terrorism.