The African Union expressed alarm Wednesday over Somali insurgents' access to upgraded weaponry and urged the United Nations to monitor its Somalia arms embargo more closely.
"The insurgents have never been short of weapons," AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told AFP on the sidelines of a meeting on Somalia at the pan-African organisation's headquarters.
"We condemn this and ask the United Nations to strengthen this embargo's monitoring mechanisms."
Insurgents led by the hardline Shebab group launched a string of attacks last week against forces loyal to the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in the fighting, which the UN's top envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, described as a coup attempt masterminded by hardline Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.
"With foreign help, the insurgents have for the first time succeeded in deploying heavy equipment," Lamamra said, without elaborating.
The Shebab group has reportedly used artillery with bigger firepower and longer range than the mortars and rocket-launchers that have been their weapons of choice so far.
"The Somali arms embargo has unfortunately never been strictly enforced, the land and sea borders are porous. The UN's sanctions committee is investigating and we are waiting for some results," Lamamra said.
He said the issue would feature highly on the agenda of the UN Security Council's visit Saturday at the African Union's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital.
"We have already urged the UN to draw up a list of people, in Somalia and outside, who are opposing the peace process in Somalia, to have them be targeted by sanctions," the AU official said.
"All those people -- whether businessmen, politicians or individuals -- who are opposing the process need to become aware that their actions are reprehensible and will not go unpunished," Lamamra said.
Source: AFP
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