SOMALIA / SIERRA LEONE TROOPS

 

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) welcomed members of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) to the Mission Headquarters in Mogadishu. The troops will be joining other African forces on the ground to support the Somali Security Forces in the fight against the Al Qaeda linked extremist group al Shabaab. AU / UN INST

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 3 June 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: AFRICAN UNION - AU
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; DISARMAMENT
• Geographic Subject: SOMALIA
• MAMS Id: U130603d

Description

STORY: SOMALIA / SIERRA LEONE TROOPS
TRT: 1.55
SOURCE: AU / UN IST
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 1 JUNE 2013, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, plane with Sierra Leone troops arriving at the Mogadishu airport
2. Wide shot, UN aircraft with troops at the Mogadishu airport
3. Wide shot, AIMSOM safety officials checking the aircraft on the ground
4. Med shot, AMISOM Sierra Leonean troops disembarking from plane
5. Wide shot, Sierra Leone troops walking away from the plane
6. Med shot, Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti welcoming the soldiers
7. Wide shot, troops at the airport
8. Wide shot, AMISOM force commander talking to the Sierra Leone soldiers at a waiting area
9. Close up, soldier’s eyes
10. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops standing at ease
11. Close up, Sierra Leone flag insignia
12. Wide shot, troops listening to the AMISOM Force Commander
13. Med shot, Force Commander Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti talking to troops
14. Wide shot, Force Commander talking to troops
15. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, African Union Mission in Somalia, Force Commander:
“Jubbaland will be controlled by KDF and Sierra Leone, so these new soldiers will be deployed in that area to augment the forces there. So their work is to go and consolidate the achievement already achieved on ground and to make sure that we stabilize the area.”
17. Med shot, Sierra Leone troops in line
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Colonel Mamadi Mohamed Keita, Sierra Leone Contingent Commander: “It makes me feel good because I believe it is pay back time, we had a bitter and brutal war for over ten years in Sierra Leone. The war ended in 2002 and all of you are aware of what role sister African countries played in bringing peace to Sierra Leone, so if we are going the same thing to Somalia we believe it is a play back time and we also pray that the Somali National Force will also do likewise in another troubled sister country in the future.”
19. Pan right, AMISOM Sierra Leone troops cheering

Storyline

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Saturday (1 June 2013) welcomed members of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) to the Mission Headquarters in Mogadishu.

The troops, part of a battalion already deployed to Somalia, will be joining other African forces on the ground to support the Somali Security Forces in the fight against the Al Qaeda linked extremist group al Shabaab. The militant group has been forced out of most cities in Somalia and they continue to loose ground to the Somali and Africa Union Forces.

AMISOM’s Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Andrew Gutti and the Sierra Leonean Contingent Commander, Colonel Mamadi Keita and senior AMISOM officers welcomed the troops off the plane at Mogadishu Airport before addressing them at a welcome parade.

Jubbaland (Kismayo) will be controlled by KDF and Sierra Leone, so these new soldiers will be deployed in that area to augment the forces there.” Says Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, “So their work is to go and consolidate the achievement already achieved on ground and to make sure that we stabilize the area.”

The Sierra Leonean is the fifth military contingent working with the African Union Forces in South Central Somalia, along side Burundian, Djiboutian, Kenyan and Ugandan contingents.

They started deploying in early April and will be working alongside Kenyan troops in Sector 2, the port city of Kismayo where AMISOM forces have made major gains in the fight against insurgents.

Col. Mamadi Keita, the Sierra Leone troop continent commander, say its time to pay back and work to bring peace to another African country that is a the same situation that Sierra Leone was not too long ago.

Keita said “we had a bitter and brutal war for over ten years in Sierra Leone. The war ended in 2002 and all of you are aware of what role sister African countries played in bringing peace to Sierra Leone, so if we are going the same thing to Somalia we believe it is a play back time and we also pray that the Somali National Force will also do likewise in another troubled sister country in the future.”

Over the past year the African Union Mission in Somalia troops alongside their Somali counterparts has significantly expanded the area of control of the Federal Government of Somalia as the government embarks on stabilization efforts in these regions.