JOY FEELINGS MAGAZINE March 2016 | Page 47

47 have called for more military assets to be urgently delivered to Mogadishu to help peg back Al Shabab. The regional leaders signed the Djibouti Declaration yesterday and called for international support in identifying and disabling funding to Al Shabab and other terrorist groups. They said they need help to end the recruitment and training of foreign fighters in Somalia. AMISOM Heads of State Summit Contributing Countries summit in Djibouti. AMISOM Photos The summit identified the lack of a central command in Somalia as a weakness that needs to be rectified and raised concern at a decision by the EU to reduce financial support to AMISOM troop allowance by 20% especially during th is critical phase of AMISOM operations. The summit requested the UN to expedite the finalisation of Letters of Assist in order to allow for deployment to Mogadishu of pledged helicopters from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to help boost the fight against terror group Al Shabab. Yesterday’s Summit was chaired by host Ismail Omar Guelleh, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta, and Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. JF mag!