UN, US warn of influx of foreign fighters into Somalia

New York - Foreign fighters have increased their presence in Somalia, threatening efforts by the transitional government to work out a political settlement with the various warring groups, the United Nations Security Council was told Thursday. The government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is also faced with problems from the locally armed group Al Shabaab, which this year has intensified a strategy of coercion and intimidation of the population, and targeted assassination of clan leaders and government officials, said UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe. 'While there have been some solid successes in consolidating the government, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) continues to face intense pressure from insurgent forces - backed by foreign fighters - seeking to seize power,' Pascoe said in updating the situation in the Horn of Africa nation. US Ambassador Susan Rice and other council members also warned of the increasing number of non-Somali fighters entering the country. Rice said the United States has provided 149 million dollars in humanitarian assistance to Somalia this year because of the increase in internally displaced Somalis and flow of Somali refugees into neighbouring countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. The UN said there are now 1.3 million Somalis displaced by the fighting. 'The international community must stand united in its support of the TFG,' Rice said. 'If the extremists are successful, we can lose yet another generation of Somalis to war, diseases and desperate poverty.' The UN undersecretary general for field support, Susana Malcorra, told the council that the African Mission in Somalia needs more assistance to pursue its task of building security and stability in that country. The mission, which works closely with the African Union, is currently composed of 4,274 troops from Uganda and Burundi and needs to be strengthened to its authorized ceiling of 8,000 troops.