African Union base in Mogadishu on lock-down for security sweep

AU troops in Lower Shabelle region this past week ahead of Shabaab offensive. Amisom announced a major lockdown on its base Wednesday for security sweep. Photo: Amisom

Business in the African Union forces’ heavily fortified base camp in Mogadishu has been halted for the next five days following a security exercise the Mission announced Wednesday.

An internal memo seen by Goobjoog News dated November 8, from Amisom chief Francisco Madeira orders a lock down of the Halane base camp for ‘sweeping of the camp to check for any hidden arms/explosives’.

“To ensure that the exercise is conducted without interference, all construction work and trading businesses in the Base Camp will be suspended. The exercise will entail stoppage of all the national workers accessing the camp,” the memo reads.

The lock-down comes barely a week after Amisom and Somali forces began a massive offensive against Al-Shabaab in Lower Shabelle regions. Madeira told journalists Tuesday the operations may cause inconveniences in the city and many other parts of the country but called for patience and cooperation.

“We are going to fight A-Shabaab in all fronts. If you see bombs blasting here in Mogadishu, don’t worry because we are dealing with an invisible enemy. And it has infiltrated some of these places but this is going to be stopped,” Madeira said.

In the memo Wednesday, Madeira said the exercise will also involve ‘banning of trucks and resupply vehicle accessing the camp, sweeping of the camp with Explosive Detector Dogs, enforcement of curfew and establishment of additional checkpoints.

All construction work and trading within the base for the duration specified must be halted, Madeira notes.

The memo instructs all embassies, contractors and companies within the base to account for all their vehicles, staff and hotel and lodging clients. All staff, local and international will be required to provide certificates of good conduct from their respective countries.

The operation which will be concluded November 13 also requires security companies operating inside the camp to provide lists all their weapons together with registration license from the federal government.