SOMALIA / SECURITY

STORY: SOMALIA / SECURITY
TRT: 1.45
SOURCE: AU/UN IST
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 SEPTEMBER 2013, BAIDOA, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, AMISOM Burundi troops gathering at their base looking at a map
2. Med shot, troops looking at a map of Baidoa town
3. Close up, map of Baidoa
4. Med shot, Major Mudomo Alexis, AMISOM Chief of operations talking to troop before the patrol
5. Med shot, AMISOM Burundian troops
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Colonel Mudomo Alexis, AMISOM Chief of operations:
“Al Shabaab has adopted a different type of combat; instead of raging a classic type of combat they have adopted asymmetric combat strategy, for example with IED. So if the population finds something abnormal, we have technicians with us who can help them very quickly to remove this object in the population. It is in this framework that we are undertaking this kind of patrol.”
7. Wide shot, AMISOM troops patrolling on foot
8. Med shot, AMISOM troops walking through the streets
9. Wide shot, troops with guns on patrol
10. Wide shot, residents on the streets
11. Med shot, children outside their house
12. Wide shot, town centre
13. Med shot, woman crossing the street
14. Med shot, man moving his donkey cart on the road as the troops patrol
15. Wide shot, vehicles and donkey-carts moving on the road
16. Wide shot, AMISOM police officers entering a police station
17. Med shot, AMISOM Police entering the police station
18. Med shot, Police officers checking a record book
19. Various shots, soldiers on the streets

STORYLINE:

Members of the AMISOM Burundian contingent stationed in Baidoa, the capital of the Bay region of Somalia, have begun daily foot patrols around the town as a way to build confidence and deterring elements of the militant group al Shabaab from carrying out attacks on its residents.


Baidoa is an important business route for goods transported to from Mogadishu to other parts of the region and although relatively peaceful, al Shabaab sympathizers still pose a challenge with suicide bombs and IEDs.

Over a hundred AMISOM peacekeepers carried out the surprise foot patrol within Baidoa town together with Somali forces in a bid to strengthen security in the city.

AMISOM Chief of operations for sector 3, Colonel Mudomo Alexis said al-Shabaab has changed its combat tactics from face-to-face gun duels to the use of explosives and other harmful munitions.

SOUNDBITE (French) Colonel Mudomo Alexis, AMISOM Chief of operations:
“Al Shabaab has adopted a different type of combat; instead of raging a classic type of combat they have adopted asymmetric combat strategy, for example with IED. So if the population finds something abnormal, we have technicians with us who can help them very quickly to remove this object in the population. It is in this framework that we are undertaking this kind of patrol.”

Baidoa, situated 256 kilometres by road northwest of the country’s capital Mogadishu, is the third largest city in south-central Somalia and had been a stronghold of the Al-Qaida linked insurgents until 2012 when the city was recaptured by government troops and Ethiopian forces. AMISOM troops deployed to Baidoa in May 2012 to support the Somalia National Army (SNA).