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Less than four months to the expiry of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) mandate, the continental body’s Peace and Security Council has endorsed the plan for the creation and deployment of a new force, to be known as the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM)…
The AU-led post-ATMIS force, whose size, scope and mission duration are still undecided, is expected to mobilise troops from several willing countries, deploy and start operations on January 1, 2025, mainly protecting the Somali civilian population from al-Shabaab attacks, In a communique dated August 1, 2024, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) in its 1225th sitting, said it had adopted the strategic Concept of Operations (Conops) for AUSSOM, submitted by the Commission after extensive consultations with ATMIS, the Government of Somalia, the United Nations and other international partners.
The PSC communique indicates that Egypt will debut troops deployment in Somalia, joining ranks with regional countries such as Uganda, which has had troops in the Horn of Africa nation since 2007, and has already signalled intent to be part of the new force, The other current troop-contributing country that will deploy under AUSSOM is Djibouti, the communique says, but does not mention Kenya, Ethiopia and Burundi, which also have had uniformed personnel in Somalia for over a decade.
The Security Council said there is a need for an assessment of the implications of the Phase 3 drawdown of ATMIS to avoid any security vacuum during the transition phase to AUSSOM, Somalia has followed a slow and cautious approach to the drawdown of troops because of security setbacks, which saw Mogadishu in June this year seek to delay till end of September the exit of 2,000 soldiers out of 4,000 who were meant to leave the mission at the end of phase three of the drawdown on June 30.
But, in its latest sitting, the PSC urged the AU Commission to consult with the troop and police-contributing countries, the Somali government and the UN, and report back by the end of September 2024 as the parties seek a smooth transition to the new mission,ATMIS has suffered funding challenges, which are likely to continue with Aussom, for which the PSC urged the AU Commission to undertake extensive engagements with the UN, European Union, strategic partners and donors to ensure adequate, predictable and sustainable funding and other forms of support.
