Cameroon takes over as chair of AU's Peace and Security Council

Cameroon will preside over the Peace and Security Council (PSC), the standing decision-making organ of the African Union (AU) on the prevention and resolution of conflicts for the month of May.

Cameroon's tenure will cover ten substantives meetings. In a statement, the PSC said the meetings would centre on "governance and security challenges in the continent namely, unconstitutional change of government, humanitarian crises and terrorism".

Cameroon's permanent representative to the AU said the meetings would be an opportunity to examine and compare the various efforts and challenges faced by African countries.

Top of the list is security challenges in the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin, which covers seven countries - Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, and Nigeria.

On Tuesday, Al-Shabaab militants attacked a base housing African Union peacekeepers south-west of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing Burundian troops.

This further compromises peace and security in the Horn of Africa and Moussa Faki Mahamat, the AU chairperson of the Commission called it a "heinous attack" that "will not lessen the determination of ATMIS forces".

The PSC became fully operational in early 2004.