UK: Now we’re sending troops to Somalia and South Sudan: 370 to help fight against Islamist terrorists

Hundreds of British troops are to be deployed to East Africa to help counter Islamist extremists and help UN peacekeepers, David Cameron announced last night.

A group of 70 Armed Forces personnel will go to Somalia, where African Union forces are fighting jihadis from Al-Shabaab. A second force of up to 300 is to go to South Sudan, the world’s youngest country where a civil war has been raging for two years.

Downing Street officials insisted they would not take a ‘front-line’ role in either conflict but would be involved in training and logistical support for peacekeepers, as well as providing engineering expertise.

Mr Cameron defended the move last night, insisting that joining peacekeeping operations would help bring ‘security and stability’ to the region – and ultimately make Britain safer. He also claimed that helping resolve conflicts would mean ‘less migration’ to Europe.

The PM also said Britain would take ‘very great care to ensure the security and safety of our troops’.

But the new deployments inevitably raise questions about whether Britain’s military should be deployed in war zones thousands of miles from home, on a mission many will see as extremely vague.

Mr Cameron will make the formal announcement today alongside President Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the UN General Assembly in New York.

He said: ‘Our commitment to peacekeeping operations will help to alleviate serious humanitarian and security issues in Somalia and South Sudan, helping to bring stability to the region and preventing these challenges from spreading.

‘These are peacekeepers. Britain has for many, many years, supported peacekeeping operations and taken part in peace-keeping operations. Let me stress that obviously we will want to see all the right force protection arrangements to be in place. But we should be playing a part in this.

‘What happens in the outcome in Somalia, if it’s a good outcome, that’s good for Britain – it means less migration, less piracy and ditto South Sudan. If we can, as peacekeepers, help to maintain order and peace and see stable development in that country then that’s going to be again less poverty, less migration, less issues that affect us back at home.

‘So it’s right that we’re stepping up and playing a greater role. We’re able to do this because of the resources that we have. But we’ll take very great care to ensure the security and safety of our troops.’

Somali forces and 18,000 African Union peacekeepers are fighting Al-Shabaab terrorists. Only weeks ago, 12 Ugandan soldiers were killed in an attack on an African Union base.