September 22, 2023- AFP”
Violence-wracked Somalia is seeking a three-month delay in the planned reduction of African Union troops after suffering “several significant setbacks” in its fight against Al-Shabaab militants, according to a government letter seen by AFP.
Somalia’s national security adviser wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of a pullout that provides for the departure of 3,000 troops by the end of September, according to the letter.
The Federal Government of Somalia formally requests a technical pause in the drawdown of the 3,000 African Union Transition in Somalia (ATMIS) uniformed personnel by three months,” it said.
A diplomatic source confirmed the authenticity of the letter and another source close to the issue also told AFP that such a request had been made.
AFP r犀利士 eached out to several Somali government officials, who did not comment.
UN resolutions call for the ATMIS force to be reduced to zero by the end of next year, putting security fully in the hands of the national army and police.
That has proven difficult in the troubled Horn of Africa nation, where AU troops first deployed in 2007 with a six-month mandate, but remain on the ground today.
Somali troops launched a major offensive against the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab in central Somalia in August last year, joining forces with local clan militias in an operation backed by the AU force and US air strikes.
The Islamist militant group has been waging a bloody insurgency to try to overthrow the fragile internationally backed government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May last year vowing “all-out war” against Al-Shabaab, whose fighters were driven from Mogadishu in 2011 but remain a potent force in control of large swathes of the countryside.
Mohamud, who has recently been visiting the frontline, said on August 18 that he believed the government would “eliminate” the jihadists by the end of the year.
The letter said the government had “managed to re-liberate towns, villages and critical supply routes” since the offensive was launched.
