EAC defence experts in Kigali to discuss terrorism

Defence experts from the East African Community (EAC) nations are scheduled to meet in Kigali today to lay strategies to fight piracy and terrorism in the region, according to Rwanda’s military spokesperson, Maj. Rene Ngendahimana.“They will be discussing other issues as well,” disclosed Ngendahimana, who recently replaced Col. Joseph Nzabamwita.The meeting will develop the EAC standing operating procedure on disaster management, counter-terrorism and peace support operations, he said. “The defence experts will also make an evaluation of Gabiro Military School that was identified as a centre of excellence for Non-Commissioned Officers’ training in EAC.” Apart from terror militia groups, including the weakened Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), new emerging threats such as terrorism and piracy have become a major cause of concern for the past few years.Countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have, so far, experienced the worst forms of terrorism threats and the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militants, a Al Qaeda affiliate, is now considered a major threat to regional peace and security. Ugandan and Burundian troops battling the Islamist Al-Shabaab in Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) were recently joined by Kenyan troops in the mission.The Kenyan army launched Operation Linda Nchi (protect the country), in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants after the latter allegedly kidnapped foreign tourists and aid workers in Kenya.Kenya’s incursion into southern Somalia started after the kidnap of two Spanish women, working for Medecins Sans Frontières at the Dadaab refugee camp, in north eastern Kenya.It is now reported that the UN has authorised Uganda and Burundi to raise their troop levels in Somalia to reach the 12,000 mark, up from their current strength of 9,500 troops.Officials believe that the EAC region remains vulnerable due to its long and porous land and maritime borders, proximity with Somalia and other unstable countries. Last year, the EAC Deputy Secretary General, Beatrice Kiraso, stressed that terror ists are indiscriminate, irrational and non-selective; for this reason, vulnerability is spread across the board, and this calls for extra vigilance by all persons in the region.The Al-Shabaab was behind the twin bomb attacks that hit Kampala during the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, and killed at least 74 soccer fans. Memories of a series of attacks that occurred on August 7, 1998, in which hundreds of people were killed in simultaneous truck bomb explosions at the US embassies in the capitals of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, are also still fresh. Further still, pirates seized hundreds of ships over the last couple of years, scaring potential investors and tourists away from the region. The bloc has suffered as importers passing through the East African coast are forced to pay higher insurance premiums, hence increasing the costs of doing business in the region. The economic grouping is sharpening strategies to fight terrorism and ensure the region is safe for investments and tourism. Defence experts have in the past met over the issue of small arms proliferation and arms’ trafficking that has continuously posed a major threat to peace, security and development to the region.Since 2010, the five partner states – Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania – have moved to strengthen their defence ties.

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EAC defence experts in Kigali to discuss terrorism