Heavily armed South African soldiers will probably be deployed in Burundi within the next two weeks as part of a 3 000-strong African Union peacekeeping force after renewed violence flared up there. Henry Boshoff of the Institute for Security Studies says South Africa will probably send a motorised infantry battalion, armed with heavy machine guns, anti-tank weapons and mortars. The past week has seen several mortar attacks in the Burundian capital of Bujumbura in which several soldiers, civilians and children died. South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia are supposed to contribute 1,800, 200 and 1,000 troops, respectively to the peace-keeping force, but uncertainty about the financing of the operation could delay the deployment of the soldiers, says Boshoff. At the moment, each country is expected to finance its own soldiers for the first two months. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.