AU troops set to withdraw troops from Somalia

FILE - An African Union peacekeeper from Uganda provides security as Somali lawmakers arrive to cast their vote in the presidential election, at the Halane military camp in Mogadishu, May 15, 2022.

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Plans to downsize the strong force of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] are underway, with Troops Contributing Countries [TCCs] convening in Kampala, Uganda for a conference that is set to determine the future of the peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa nation.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday traveled to Kampala joining several stakeholders as the component makes key decisions on whether to downscale troops in compliance with the Somali Transition Plan [STP] even as the country begins the torrid second phase of operations against Al-Shabaab.

Villa Somalia said the president will join Heads of State and governments for troops contributing nations in a conference "which will evaluate the Mission's mandate and its drawdown plans to pave the way for SNA's full security responsibility takeover".

But according to Defense Web, a leading online newspaper for defense news in Africa plans to scale down troops are underway despite the fact that Somalia is still in dire need of support from international partners. Currently, there are close to 22,000 ATMIS soldiers in the country.

Some of the countries that committed soldiers to Somalia include Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. Early this year, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud requested the countries to send more non-ATMIS soldiers to the country for the second phase of operations against Al-Shabaab, and already, Ethiopia has complied.

In terms of Resolution 2670 [2022], the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] unanimously endorsed the African Union [AU] commitment to a strategic, gradual, sector-by-sector approach to troop drawdown and maintain the ATMIS exit date of 31 December 2024.

At Kampala, stakeholders will assess the security situation in Somalia with the major target being checking on the ability of the Somali National Army to take over security responsibilities from ATMIS. The force commanders had recommended the withdrawal of 2000 soldiers monthly from Somalia, a move that is yet to be implemented.

Julius Joshua Kivuna, the head of the Ugandan delegation, noted that the meeting was convened upon the request of Somalia which has been fighting Al-Shabaab for the last 16 years. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is set to make a statement on Thursday but he's largely expected to laud ATMIS for its support towards Somalia.

Last week, sources told TheEastAfrican that Somalia "does not have a problem" with the extension of the ATMIS mandate in the country with Hassan Sheikh said to be backing a possible extension. However, Hussein Sheikh Ali, the National Security Advisor dismissed the reports, noting that Somalia is keen to see local forces take over security responsibilities.

It is not clear how stakeholders will implement withdrawal but the cash crunch which has hit financiers could propel the move, which might after all be destructive to the ongoing crackdown against the militants.

Largely, Somali National Army has shown capabilities of defending their country based on their roles in the first phase of the Al-Shabaab crackdown.

GAROWE ONLINE