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Amid formidable diplomatic obstacles in a troubled region, East African armies are building a new intervention force

In early December, 1,087 soldiers from eleven east African countries convened in Djibouti for a test run of the region’s first rapid reaction military force. The East African Standby Brigade (Easbrig) will be joined by four others – southern, central, western and northern. The aim is to have a combined African standby capacity of 20,000 troops. East Africa is full of flashpoints. Officers cited Kenya’s 2012 elections, Sudan’s 2011 referendums, Eritrean-Ethiopian belligerence and Somalia’s ongoing crisis as markers of potential danger....

(This article contains approximately 1090 words)

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Keywords:

Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, Eritrean-Ethiopian, Somalia, Peter Marwa, Burundi, Uganda, British, Rwanda, France, United States, Etienne du Fayet, Nicolas Sarkozy, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea, Ghana, Angola, Congo-Kinshasa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Anthony M. Kurta, Simon Mulongo, Omar Hassan Ahmed el Beshir, Comoros, Osman Soubagleh, Madagascar, Mauritius, Joseph Makara, Afghanistan, Iraq, Abdi Hasan ‘Qaybdid’, Ali Mohamed Hasan, Ali Madobe, Yusuf Hussein Dhumaal, Mohamed Gele Kahiye, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Africa Confidential, ad hoc, Al Shabaab