- As Kenya gets ready to lead a multinational peacekeeping force to battle gang violence in Haiti, the U.S. and Kenya have inked a defense pact to provide resources and assistance for security deployments.
- The five-year pact, which was signed in Nairobi, will govern defense cooperation between the two nations as the conflict in East Africa against the terrorist organization Al-Shabab, which is connected to Al-Qaeda, escalates.
- In order to tackle gang violence in Haiti, Kenya has promised to send 1,000 security personnel; this mission is still awaiting formal approval from the U.N. Security Council, but it has the backing of both the U.S. and the U.N.
- Kenya’s “very long history of global peacekeeping” in Kosovo, neighboring Somalia, and Congo was highlighted by Kenya’s defense minister, Aden Duale, as justification for his nation’s readiness to deploy to Haiti. Human rights advocates have raised objections to the deployment, pointing to a pattern of violations of human rights in the nation’s security activities.
- Language barriers might prevent the deployment from Kenya, which speaks English and Swahili, from communicating with the people of Haiti, where French and Creole are the official languages, according to some security specialists.
- Austin stated that he had spoken with the president of Somalia and that they had both agreed that the nation had achieved “significant progress in the last year against al-Shabab.” He did, however, add that growth is not always linear and that there may be obstacles one day and substantial improvements the following.
- In order to give its forces time to reorganize, Somalia this week requested that the United Nations postpone for three months the removal of 3,000 troops from the second phase of the drawdown. By the end of 2024, Somalia is anticipated to assume full responsibility for security.
- The pact governs defense cooperation between the nations for the ensuing five years as the conflict in East Africa against the terrorist organization Al-Shabab, which is connected to Al-Qaeda, escalates.
Source:
Associated Press
