The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, United Nations

The ranks of Somalia's army and police have been gutted as most soldiers and police officers have deserted, often taking their weapons and vehicles, according to a new U.N. Security Council report.

The chairman of the council's Monitoring Group on Somalia said on Thursday that this was one of the main sources of weapons and ammunition in Somalia, along with illegal imports from Yemen and purchases of arms for opposition groups with funds from various domestic and foreign financiers.

There has been "an 80 percent erosion and attrition in the (interim government's) security sector, by which over 15,000 soldiers and police had deserted or defected along with their arms, uniforms, skills and vehicles in some cases," South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo told the council.

A U.N. arms embargo has been in place on the now lawless Horn of Africa country since 1992.

In a four-page summary of the monitoring group's biannual report for the council, Kumalo also said his committee had observed a "steady disintegration" of the government since he gave the group's last report to the Security Council in May.

He said that 70 percent of the transitional Somali government's revenues were earmarked for supporting the security sector, but very few of those funds were ever spent on security due to corruption.

"Charitable organizations and the Internet were the main sources of funding for armed opposition groups and t payment mechanisms involving cash couriers and contributions in kind had emerged," Kumalo said in his summary.

On the topic of piracy, he described it as a "multimillion dollar industry, with a total of 1,000-1,500 pirates employed, using over 60 small boats and mother ships."