Friday, November 02, 2012
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council said it agreed to a short-term extension for an African peacekeeping mission in Somalia given the threat to regional security.
Forces from the U.N.-backed African Union Mission to Somalia last week arrested 72 militants in the port city of Kismayo. African forces last month captured the city from militant group al-Shabaab.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution saying the situation in Somalia continues to pose a threat to international peace and security in the region.
"(It) decides to authorize the member states of the African Union to maintain the deployment until Nov. 7 of AMISOM, which shall be authorized to take all necessary measures to carry out its existing mandate," the resolution stated.
Somalia's central government has increased its influence following a lengthy transition period. The administration in Mogadishu had struggled for control in a country dominated in part by al-Shabaab, an ally of al-Qaida.
The Security Council met in temporary offices in New York this week. The main U.N. headquarters was damaged by Hurricane Sandy.