Peacekeeping: Mercenaries To The Rescue

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June 4, 2009: When Ugandan and Burundian AU (African Union) peacekeepers in Somalia recently came under attack by Islamic terrorists using suicide and roadside bombs, they quickly hired some specialists to help improve their defenses. The outfit hired, Bancroft Global Development (BGD), is a South African company, commonly known as "mercenaries", who had worked in Iraq to deal with defending military and civilian organizations against terrorist bombs. Elsewhere in the world, BGD also works on clearing landmines and explosives left over from wars and unrest.

Thousands of former members of the Ugandan Army had served in Iraq, as security guards and such, and knew of outfits like BGD, and how effective they were in limiting the damage from these terrorist bombs. So BGD came to Mogadishu, with their special equipment and bomb sniffing dogs, and showed the AU troops how to makes their bases, and operations outside the bases, safer from the terrorist bombs (which have caused most of the casualties among the peacekeepers in the last year).