Successful First Phase of AU Force Withdrawal From Somalia

The 2,000 uniformed personnel of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), who announced their withdrawal from Somalia, have successfully accomplished this mission. During the exit process that began in June of this year, six military bases were handed over to the Somali authorities. The information was given by the commander of the ATMIS Sam Okiding in a meeting with the heads of the peacekeeping institution.

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He also stated that in September another three thousand military personnel will be withdrawn from the peacekeeping mission, complying with the phases programmed by the United Nations and which should ensure the total withdrawal of the ATMIS by 2024. This mission is made up of troops from Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Burundi.

Together with the Somali Army, the troops of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia are contributing to the stabilization of this territory by participating in the confrontation with the extremist group Al Shabab in central and southern areas of this African state.

The withdrawal of the ATMIS comes at a time when extreme weather events are radicalizing in the country. One of the worst droughts, caused by unusually low rainfall averages, has aggravated Somalia’s food problem. Half of the population may suffer from hunger in the coming months.

The rains when they arrived did so in a way that was detrimental to agriculture and food production in a general sense. The floods of the rivers, resulting from the abundant localized rains, have displaced 220,000 people in need of urgent humanitarian aid. In this way, the challenge that the security institutions of the African country will have to assume is becoming greater.

In March 2022, AMISON, the mission the African Union had deployed in Somalia since 2007, was replaced by ATMIS, which grew to nearly 20,000 uniformed personnel.

“For years, we have worked closely with the SNA (Somali National Army) and this collaboration has contributed significantly to improving the stability and security of this area,” the ATMIS Staff Logistics Officer, Lt. Col. Collins Musau, told the press in June.

Despite the handover, the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), which provides logistical support to ATMIS, left behind a well, water treatment and storage equipment, generators, solar panels, electrical equipment and refrigerators.