A rights group in Somalia has said that African Union soldiers serving in the country have raped a number of women and girls seeking medical aid or water from their bases in the capital, Mogadishu.

The African Union deployed troops to Somalia in 2007 to help stop Al Shabab from seizing the country from the Somali government. Most of the troops is said to be coming from Uganda and Burundi.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its latest report that the troops had misused their power over women fleeing violence and poverty.

The Ugandan and the Burundian force is said to have perpetuated many of this crime than any country within the African Union force.

The right group said it interviewed 21 women and girls, some as young as 12, who described being raped or sexually exploited by the troops when they sort for help from them.

“A number of the women and girls interviewed for this report said that they were initially approached for sex in return for money or raped while seeking medical assistance and water from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) bases in Mogadishu”

“Some AMISOM soldiers have used humanitarian assistance, provided by the mission, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity,” HRW said in the report.

But the African Union has responded that it would investigate the matter to bring troops responsible to account for their actions.

An anonymous retired officer who has served with the African Union before in Sudan told the NationalTurk’s Issaka Adams in the Ghanaian capital, Accra that it is common for African Union troops on peacekeeping missions to sexually harass women who approach them for help. He said he saw many of these cases during his mission time in Sudan.

In 2012, the United Nation said it recorded more than 1,700 rape cases in camps for displaced people in Somalia.

Somalia has been in turmoil since the overthrow of long-serving ruler Siad Barre in 1991. Al Shabab then took advantage of the situation and wants to seize the country to create an Islamic state.

The African Union backed by the United Nations then deployed some 22,000 troops in 2007 to help combat the militants’ threats.

United States aerial bombardment earlier last week killed the leaders of Al Shabab, Ahmed Godane in south-central Somalia.

Meanwhile, a deadly suicide car bomb killed 12 people in an attack aimed at African Union troops in the capital, Mogadishu on Monday.

The car which was loaded with explosives was said to have crashed into African Union convoy patrolling the capital. Al Shabab said it was behind the attack. It had earlier vowed to avenge the death of its leader, Ahmed Godane.

It is unclear how many troops were killed in the attack but some local reports said the 12 dead were all troops from the African Union force.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com

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