The African Union’s peace and security council (PSC) has supported a request by Somalia to suspend the withdrawal of its 3,000 troops from the country for three months, the mission said Thursday.
The PSC, the AU’s permanent decision-making organ for conflict prevention and resolution, welcomed the commitment by the five TCCs (Troop-Contributing Countries) of Kenya (Ethiopia), Burundi (Uganda), Djibouti (Kenya), and Uganda (Uganda) to cooperate with Somalia and its partners to secure the financial support needed for the African Union’s (AU) Transition Mission. (ATMIS)
The five TCCs told the UNSC that they strongly support the request for a technical pause of phase 2 of the drawdown of the 3,000 ATMIS troops for three months, as they agree with the country that it needs time to address security gaps, including the pooling of enough personnel to take on security responsibilities.
“The PSC strongly supports the request of Somalia regarding the technical pause of the phase 2 drawdown of 3,000 ATMIS uniformed personnel by three months,” the PSC said, according to resolutions released by the ATMIS in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
TheΓΒ PSCΓΒ advisedΓΒ SomaliaΓΒ toΓΒ emphasizeΓΒ forceΓΒ development,ΓΒ regeneration,ΓΒ andΓΒ capacityΓΒ buildingΓΒ inΓΒ orderΓΒ toΓΒ takeΓΒ overΓΒ andΓΒ adequatelyΓΒ occupyΓΒ allΓΒ militaryΓΒ basesΓΒ handedΓΒ overΓΒ byΓΒ theΓΒ ATMISΓΒ andΓΒ preserveΓΒ Somalia’sΓΒ successes. TheΓΒ PSCΓΒ pledgedΓΒ toΓΒ reachΓΒ anΓΒ agreementΓΒ onΓΒ theΓΒ transitionΓΒ toΓΒ theΓΒ SomaliΓΒ government’sΓΒ responsibilityΓΒ forΓΒ securityΓΒ inΓΒ orderΓΒ toΓΒ makeΓΒ anΓΒ informedΓΒ decisionΓΒ onΓΒ theΓΒ ATMISΓΒ mandateΓΒ renewalΓΒ inΓΒ December,ΓΒ includingΓΒ phaseΓΒ 3ΓΒ drawdownΓΒ scheduledΓΒ forΓΒ JuneΓΒ 2024,ΓΒ andΓΒ finalΓΒ exitΓΒ byΓΒ DecemberΓΒ 2024,ΓΒ inΓΒ consultationΓΒ withΓΒ Somalia,ΓΒ theΓΒ TCCs,ΓΒ theΓΒ UN,ΓΒ andΓΒ otherΓΒ partners. TheΓΒ PSC,ΓΒ onΓΒ theΓΒ otherΓΒ hand,ΓΒ notedΓΒ theΓΒ financialΓΒ resourceΓΒ deficienciesΓΒ thatΓΒ mightΓΒ delayΓΒ theΓΒ implementationΓΒ ofΓΒ theΓΒ soughtΓΒ three-monthΓΒ technicalΓΒ hiatus. ItΓΒ directedΓΒ theΓΒ AUΓΒ CommissionΓΒ toΓΒ becomeΓΒ involved.
The ATMIS was expected to scale down its troop numbers in September this year by a further 3,000 personnel after successfully withdrawing 2,000 troops and handing over six military bases in June.
