By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

THE men and women of the Guam Guard are not directly involved in the current conflict in Somalia, a high-ranking officer assured yesterday.
According to Guam Army National Guard Lt. Col. George Charfauros, commander of the 1st 294th Infantry Battalion, Guam troops are not exposed to actual combat.
He acknowledged that Guam troops have been training Ethiopians, some of whom may be participating in the Somalia conflict.
But Charfauros said the training given by the Guam troops focuses more on border security and counter-terrorism.
"We are helping the Ethiopian army keep their country secure internally," Charfauros said.
Among the training given to Ethiopians are radio communications that support the Army’s military-to-military training with the Ethiopian National Defense Force soldiers.
Troops attached to the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa have also been training Ethiopian soldiers in basic infantry tactics and logistics since 2003, when the U.S. government identified the East African country as an ally in its global war on terror.
The region has been given special attention by the U.S. because the widespread poverty there could become a fertile breeding ground for terrorists.
According to Charfauros, the Horn of Africa covers a lot of areas, including Djibouti, Kenya, the Seychelles, Yemen and Sudan, the last two of which have bred terrorist activity in the past.
Lately, the Horn of Africa has become one of the frontlines of the global war on terror as Ethiopian soldiers have been sent to Somalia to help defeat an Islamic movement that threatened to overthrow the internationally recognized government.
Yesterday, the military announced that a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaeda members in southern Somalia.
The strike took place near the Kenyan border and was launched at night from the U.S. military facility in neighboring Djibouti where most of the Guam troops are based.
According to Charfauros, the latest batch of Guam troops bound for the Horn of Africa, numbering about 150, left last weekend for Hawaii where they will undergo training prior to their deployment to Africa.