EU agrees to train Somali troops

The Somali government hopes to build a 6,000-strong security force

The European Union has agreed to send a team to help train up to 2,000 Somali troops, who are battling a long-running insurgency by Islamist militants.

Spain will lead a mission of about 200 EU troops in setting up a training camp in Uganda, EU foreign ministers said.

The move comes shortly after a request by Somalia's transitional government to help build a 6,000-strong police force.

Islamist militants control most of Somalia - the government runs only small parts of the capital, Mogadishu.

The EU already has a naval force fighting pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

But the BBC's Oana Lungescu says no-one disputes that the causes of piracy are to be found on land, in a nation plagued by civil war and an Islamist insurgency.

Several nations, including Germany and Spain, said they were prepared to contribute to the mission.

Last year, France started training 500 Somali soldiers at its military base in Djibouti.

Pirate focus

EU foreign ministers said the union would continue to help stabilise Somalia by supporting "vital" areas including the security sector and development.

"In this context, the [EU] council agreed to set up a military mission to contribute to training of Somali security forces," the ministers said in a statement.

Earlier Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said the training camp would be a "very good contribution" to tackling Somalia's problems.

The training plan is expected to last for roughly a year, and will begin in spring 2010.

Somalia has been gripped by fierce fighting since 2007 and the country has not had a strong central government since 1991.

More than 1.5 million people have been uprooted by the fighting which has claimed nearly 20,000 lives.

Western countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help the country develop its security forces and help restore order.

The rise of Somali pirates in recent years has helped focus international attention on the strife-torn country.

Pirates are currently holding hostage at least 13 ships and more than 230 crew