The African Union (AU) wants to boost its peacekeeping force in Somalia from the mandated 12,000 troops to more than 17,700, dpa quoted the bloc as saying in a communique issued Friday. The peacekeeping force, known as AMISOM, has backed the weak central government since early 2007, and this year made major gains against insurgent group al-Shabaab. However, commanders have long requested more soldiers, and AU leaders meeting at the bloc's headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday called on the United Nations to approve its plans immediately. The AU plan calls for 5,700 troops from Djibouti and authorizes Kenyan forces, which entered southern Somalia independently in October after a spate of kidnappings it blamed on al-Shabaab, to be re-designated as AU peacekeepers. The force's mandate was also extended for another year at the meeting.
