Somalia: AU Mission Trains New Military Officers

Training for newly arrived officers from the Formed Police Units of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Oct. 31, 2023.

Published 31 October 2023

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Under Somalia's security plans, ATMIS will draw down its troops over the next 14 months before withdrawing completely by the end of 2024, with Somali security forces assuming primary responsibility in this area.

On Tuesday, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) began the initial training of its 12 newly embedded military officers to help stabilize the country.

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According to ATMIS, the training, which takes place in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, will update the military on ATMIS' mandate and operations in the country.

"They will be taken through various topics including military operations, code of conduct, international humanitarian law, and child protection," the AU mission said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

Official reports indicate that the ATMIS has intensified training after the Somali government recently requested a three-month technical pause in the final phase of the drawdown of the ATMIS troops while it engages in a major military effort against the al-Shabab terrorist group.

#ATMIS Police has begun induction training for newly arrived Nigeria and Sierra Leone Formed Police Units officers. Mandatory training is to familiarise the officers with the Mission's mandate & standard operating procedures essential for peacekeeping.

Both @UN and… pic.twitter.com/Hgtr1yOH8q
— ATMIS (@ATMIS_Somalia) October 28, 2023

According to Somalia's security plans, the ATMIS will be drawing down its troops over the next 14 months before completely departing by the end of 2024, with the Somali security forces assuming prime responsibility in this area.

Moreover, the ATMIS was expected to scale down its troop numbers in September by a further 3,000 personnel after successfully withdrawing 2,000 troops and handing over six military bases in June.

According to the UN, a high-level conference on Somalia's post-2024 security architecture and its needs is scheduled to be held in New York, the United States, in December.