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.
The PSC advised Somalia to emphasize force development, regeneration, and capacity building in order to take over and adequately occupy all military bases handed over by the ATMIS and preserve Somalia’s successes. The PSC pledged to reach an agreement on the transition to the Somali government’s responsibility for security in order to make an informed decision on the ATMIS mandate renewal in December, including phase 3 drawdown scheduled for June 2024, and final exit by December 2024, in consultation with Somalia, the TCCs, the UN, and other partners. The PSC, on the other hand, noted the financial resource deficiencies that might delay the implementation of the sought three-month technical hiatus. It directed the AU Commission to become 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.
