BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Monday to set up a military mission in Uganda to train Somali government forces who are fighting an Islamist insurgency.
The mission, expected to be led by Spain and involving around 100 troops, should begin in the second quarter of this year, EU foreign ministers decided at a meeting in Brussels.
"The EU should ... continue to help stabilise Somalia by providing support to vital and priority areas such as the security sector, development, assistance to the population and capacity-building support," they said in a statement.
"In this context, the Council agreed to set up a military mission to contribute to training of Somali security forces."
Some EU member states expressed concern that training Somali troops and providing them with guns could cause more problems than it solves if there were not long-term commitments in place to pay them and give them institutional support.
Those issues, including the vetting of trainees and the monitoring of the force once it is back in Mogadishu, must be addressed before the mission gets under way, the ministers said.
Spain and France have already committed troops to the training team and other countries are expected to follow, including Britain, Slovenia, Greece and Hungary.
Somalia has had no central government since 1991. Foreign governments have stepped up efforts to stabilise the country in the past three or four years, since it became a major source of piracy, with dozens of ships and crew taken hostage for ransom.
Since the start of 2007, conflict in Somalia has killed 20,000 civilians and uprooted more than 1.5 million from their homes. The government is confined to a few small blocks of the capital and exerts little influence over the state. Continued...
Heavy fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. As troops clash with Islamic fighters the European Union has said it will train 2,000 more soldiers for the country. 

One major battle erupted at a base used by Burundian troops. African peacekeepers as well as local soldiers working for the transitional government fought back, according to eyewitnesses. Heavy artillery was used this morning. Soldiers in Somaliland found explosives which later went off, killing at least three people.

Somaliland's deputy governor, Mohamed Abdi Dimbil, said locals had discovered the bombs and handed them over to soldiers. They detonated while the soldiers still had them, causing the deaths as well as injuries.

EU foreign ministers in Brussels responded to the clashes. A joint statement read: "The EU should ... continue to help stabilise Somalia by providing support to vital and priority areas such as the security sector, development, assistance to the population and capacity-building support. In this context, the Council agreed to set up a military mission to contribute to training of Somali security forces."

Spain will lead the mission and France has pledged troops as well. Britain, Slovenia, Greece, and Hungary are expected to participate, according to Reuters.