British troops to join United Nations missions in Somalia, South Sudan

David Cameron will deploy British troops to Somalia in a bid to quell Al-Shabaab and other Islamic militant groups in the region.

Around 70 troops will go to Somalia, where the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu protected by 22,000 African Union troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.

Britain would also send up to 300 troops over the course of several deployments to South Sudan for engineering support.

Mr Cameron will pledge the military support at a special summit at the United Nations General Assembly created to bolster worldwide support for peacekeeping missions across the world.

But with Europe increasingly overwhelmed by the upsurge of refugees fleeing the conflict and IS in control of large swathes of the country, he has joined Western allies such as the United States and France in signalling a willingness to discuss whether he could play a transitional role. Final numbers are still to be negotiated with the UN.

Cameron said Monday that Britain wants to “step up” its role and work toward “less terrorism, less migration, less piracy” in Somalia.

British soldiers will be sent to Africa to help counter the threat of Islamist extremists in the region, David Cameron has said.

“Obviously we will want to see all the right force protection arrangements in place but we should be playing a part in this”. But the personnel in Somalia will reportedly not be involved in the frontline operations and instead help the African Union force with medical, logistical and engineering tasks. The outcome is Somalia if it is a good outcome – that’s good for Britain.

Conflict between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar has forced more than 2.2 million people from their homes in the state, which broke away from Sudan in 2011.

“As the world agrees ambitious goals to end extreme poverty, it is absolutely vital that the global community works together to shore up stability in Africa”.

Speaking to reporters on a flight to New York, Mr Cameron said everything would be done to ensure troops deployed to the countries remained safe. The event follows the completion of a review commissioned by the UN Secretary General of UN Peacekeeping Operations.