C-IED OPERATIONS IN SOMALIA
UNMAS – SUPPORTING C-IED OPERATIONS IN SOMALIA The Work of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Support of the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali Police Force By Alan Barlow MBE, Senior Counter-IED Advisor, UNMAS Somalia
Photo above depicts a find of Bomb Making Equipment (BME), recovered as the result of an planned AMISOM search operation targeting the dwelling of an Al Shabaab operative residing within the capital city of Mogadishu.
The United Nations (UN) has coordinated mine action activities within Somalia since 2001, during which time successful independent mine action programmes have been established in both Somaliland and Puntland. This was purely a humanitarian function in response to the mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination resulting from over 30 years of conflict. However, following a UN assessment in the south and central parts of the country, it was deemed necessary to instigate an emergency mine action response to help mitigate the threat from explosive items. In 2009 the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) deployed staff and commenced operational support to both the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) within the besieged city of Mogadishu. The initial focus was to provide explosive management support to AMISOM troops, who were both ill equipped and lacked any specialist training. However, it soon became
apparent that the recently formed TFG Police Force would also require assistance in developing their capabilities so as to ensure the safety and security of Mogadishu. As a result, the programme quickly developed into a three-pronged approach to including specific support to the humanitarian sector as well as explosive management support to both AMISOM and the security sector. For the latter two, UNMAS provides a wide range of support activities including the coordination and delivery of specialist training, mentor support, equipment resourcing and procurement together with explosive storage and management.
EVOLVING THREATS
Since 2007, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) have been one of the favoured Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) employed by the armed antigovernment group Al Shabaab (AS) as part of its asymmetrical warfare campaign. Throughout 2009, the group was able to inflict substantial casualties counteriedreport.com
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