by Chris Thompson
Article published on the 2009-12-04 Latest update 2009-12-04 11:26 TU
Welcome to Rwabatt, a Rwandan battalion training to be part of east Africa's planned rapid-reaction military force, the East African Standby Brigade (Easbrig).
The 184 Rwandan infantrymen are among over a1,000 east African soldiers from 12 countries taking part in a major military exercise which constitutes the first major test of Easbrig's battle-preparedness.
Conceived as a way to bypass the cumbersome United Nations Security Council, Easbrig hopes to have initial operating capability for peacekeeping duties in east Africa and the wider continent by next year.
"Out of necessity it is required that force is not just military, but also a police component and a civilian component," says Peter Marwa, Easbrig's Kenyan director. "We are bringing together the troops to see how they respond to peace support requirements - stretching from humanitarian work to fighting,"
For now, the men being trained in Djibouti will form the operational core of a force. Its proponents hope it will eventually number 7,000 by 2015.
The fictional scenario unfolding in Djibouti takes place in Canara - a make-believe African state torn apart by civil war that has left 20,000 people dead.
In an eerie echo of neighbouring Somalia soldiers are told they will have to deal with gun-wielding militias roaming the countryside and help secure 200,000 internal refugees.
"We are here to help the Africans to solve crises in the region by themselves [by] helping them train and supporting the host nation," said Colonel Goupil, deputy commander of the French army in Djibouti.
Military advisers from Britain, the United States and France - of which the latter two both have military bases in Djibouti - train troops. A broader coalition of western nations has contributed towards the exercise's seven-million-euro cost.
On an overcast December morning outside the mountain town of Ouea, in the shadow of a French foreign legion base, Easbrig troop carriers escort a busload of civilians down a treacherous valley road.
The soldiers, who were recently trained in how to deal with so-called "improvised explosive devices" (IEDs), don't know what to expect.
Near the road's end, one of their vehicles has hit a local boy who is lying unconscious. As they descend onto a plateau local villagers surround the vehicles and begin to bang their sides with sticks.
It's the beginning of a riot.
Armed infantrymen scramble out to form a cordon around the convoy. Riot police are dispatched to confront the angry locals who fight back with fists and stones. Eventually, an ambulance comes and a truce is reached. A colonel has promised to return the boy once his fractured leg is repaired.
"It's only acting but it's also quite realistic what to expect," says James Ochaya, a Ugandan police chief. "When I served [as a peacekeeper] in East Timor, villagers would often riot against us if we hit one their own or even one of their goats. They would come at us and try and burn our vehicles!"
Many of the troops, such as the Rwandan battalion who served as part of the African Union force in Darfur, have had previous mission experience while others from Tanzania and the Comoros have not. Uniting such a mix of backgrounds, languages and military doctrines under one regional umbrella has been no small task.
"When we first met it was difficult to pronounce each other's names - now we sleep together and we work together - it's quite an achievement," says Osman Soubacleh, the Djibouti commander of Easbrig's forces.
Yet, despite the force's laudable goals, it is a lack of political will on the ground which has been the biggest impediment to bringing change in the past. Indeed, in a reminder of the area's often turbulent politics, some states including Eritrea, Mauritius and Madagascar have decided not to join Easbrig despite being invited.
Joseph Makara, a former Kenyan diplomat and Easbrig's head of mission, believes that the next 12 months will be key.
"Our challenge now is to make use of the momentum to deal with the challenges at hand," he says.
Back at Ouea, both the African officers and foreign advisers said they were impressed with the soldiers' response to the riot and diplomacy with the villagers.
"Having trained here I now feel we are ready for anything," says a Kenyan soldier, who worked as a peacekeeper in southern Sudan.