UN approves troop boost in Somalia

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution that increases the number of African Union troops to be deployed in Somalia, as world leaders prepare for an international conference in London on the future of the war torn country. All 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor of the resolution, which will more than double funding for the UN's military mission in Somalia. The resolution also gives troops the authority to use force against Islamist militants belonging to al-Shabaab, a group linked to al Qaeda. Britain proposed the resolution as it prepared to host the conference meant to drum up support for Somalia's transitional government. "Security is not in itself a sufficient answer to the multiple crises in Somalia," said Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant after the vote. "But it is a key element of the overall strategy that the international community is now developing towards Somalia." The resolution increases the maximum number of troops from the African Union that can be deployed in Somalia from 12,000 to 17,731. Meanwhile, Somali troops working with Ethiopian soldiers took the Somali city of Baidoa, which had previously been controlled by al-Shabaab. The town, 160 miles (256 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, was previously the seat of Somalia's transitional parliament. From: DW