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| Africa Horn |
| AU troops to start gradual exit from Somalia in 2018 |
| 2016-07-08 |
| African forces in Somalia, of which the Kenya Defence Forces are a part, should start withdrawing from October 2018, the African Union has said. The African Peace and Security Council said the two-year period would allow proper establishment of necessary facilities for the handover of African Union Mission (Amisom) to the Somali forces. The details of the two-year schedule were contained in a revised Concept of Operations (Conops) which the council approved last week during its 608th meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It means Amisom should start pulling out of Somalia only after a new stable government has been in place, Al-Shabaab has been chased out of most of the territory they still occupy and the Somali National Security Forces (SNSF) have been strengthened. “The council endorses the revised Conops, which reflect efforts toward enhancing Amisom and SNSF operations and crucially identifies indicative timelines for an exit strategy of Amisom from Somalia,” the council said in a dispatch. The Conops refers to a document that describes the mandate of the AU mission which was initially formed in 2007 to stabilise the then Somali Transitional Federal government as well as combat violent extremists. It was revised following complaints from some troop contributing countries like Kenya that it lacked a clear coordination provision and that it did not indicate an exit strategy. “The council takes note of the indicative timelines of Amisom exit strategy presented by the AU commission, which prioritises territorial recovery and consolidation by Amisom and SNSF until October 2018, and a subsequent draw down and transfer of security responsibilities to the SNSF from 2018 to December 2020,” said the council. AU is banking on an upcoming election in Somalia in early September for this schedule to work and is calling on donors to help strengthen the Somali National Army to take over from Amisom. The revelation came as both Kenya and Uganda, which contribute troops to Amisom, threatened to withdraw them, citing frustrations with the international community that is supposed to finance mission. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Don't count on that. We're busy and neither of our potential next Presidents could find Somalia with a periwinkle-bordered map... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2016-07-08 16:11 |
| #1 Leaving only the Americans. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-07-08 09:55 |