Rédaction Africa Links 24 with AFP
Published on 2024-02-03 08:13:26
The African Union’s peacekeeping force in Somalia, where Al-Shabaab jihadists are waging an insurgency, announced on Friday that the second phase of a drawdown involving 3,000 troops has been completed after a four-month delay.
This drawdown comes after several major reversals against the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, prompting the Mogadishu government to request a three-month “technical pause” in the drawdown, which was originally scheduled to be completed by last September.
“The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has completed Phase Two drawdown, which involved reducing the troop count by 3,000 soldiers,” the force said in a statement.
ATMIS handed over seven forward operating bases to the internationally-backed government and shut down two others. “We will soon start preparations for the next phase, Phase Three, to reduce our numbers by 4,000 troops in June,” said Lieutenant General Sam Okiding.
The first two phases of the withdrawal saw a reduction of 5,000 soldiers. Currently, there are still 14,600 members drawn from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda deployed in Somalia. According to a UN calendar, ATMIS is expected to have completely withdrawn from the Horn of Africa nation by the end of the year, handing over to Somali security forces.
ATMIS was given a more offensive remit when it took over in April 2022 from a predecessor force known as AMISOM, set up in 2007 to support the fragile Somali government against the jihadist insurrection. Al-Shabaab was driven out of Somalia’s main towns and cities over 2011-2012 but retains power in large swathes of rural areas. It continues to carry out attacks against security and civilian targets, including in the capital, despite a government counter-offensive, US air strikes, and the presence of AU troops on the ground.
Read the original article on Uganda Monitor
