The governments of Uganda and Burundi have announced that they will each send an extra 2,000 troops to join Amisom, lifting the mission's total number of peacekeepers to 12,000. Other countries such as Ghana, Guinea, South Africa and Nigeria had pledged to contribute troops to Amisom, but have so far shown few signs of honouring this commitment. The international community will therefore welcome the boost to Amisom's numbers, which could tip the balance of power decisively against the Islamists, at least in Mogadishu.

However, the fact that the mission is comprised exclusively of Ugandan and Burundian troops risks undermining its legitimacy. Its narrow composition makes Amisom appear more like an occupying force in the eyes of ordinary Somalis-whose long experience of military interventions in the country has made them hostile towards foreign soldiers-rather than a multilateral peacekeeping mission. Uganda has already paid a heavy price for contributing the majority of Amisom's troops: al-Shabab murdered 74 people in bomb attacks in the country's capital, Kampala, in July 2010. Sending more Ugandan troops will do little to counter popular impressions, strengthened by Islamist propaganda, that Uganda is acting as an occupier rather than liberator.