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Somalia Seeks Three-Month Delay in Removal of AU Troops


FILE - An African Union peacekeeper provides security as Somali lawmakers cast their ballots in the presidential election, at the Halane military camp in Mogadishu, May 15, 2022.
FILE - An African Union peacekeeper provides security as Somali lawmakers cast their ballots in the presidential election, at the Halane military camp in Mogadishu, May 15, 2022.

NAIROBI, KENYA — Somali authorities recently wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the planned drawdown of African Union troops after suffering "several significant setbacks" in its fight against Al-Shabaab militants.

A Somali government letter seen by the French news agency AFP shows the national security adviser wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of the African Union troop pullout.

The original plan was for the troops to leave by the end of this month.

"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," read the letter.

A diplomatic source confirmed the authenticity of the letter and another source close to the matter confirmed the request.

AFP reached out to several Somali government officials, who did not comment.

UN resolutions call for the ATMIS force to withdraw by the end of next year, placing security operations in the hands of Somalia’s army and police.

The Horn of Africa country has been wracked by civil war and then a surge in violence by the al-Shabaab Islamist militants for more than 30 years.

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