AU troops to leave four bases in Somalia
Peacekeepers will withdraw next week from Lower Shabelle region due to financial strain, impacting security near Mogadishu.
African Union peacekeepers will withdraw from four forward operating bases in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region next week. The mission is scaling back under severe financial strain, according to local media reports on Thursday.
The pullback follows Washington's agreement to extend support for the mission until December 2027, after it threatened in July to cut logistical assistance. Analysts warn that Somali forces lack the capacity to occupy the sites quickly enough to prevent them from falling to Al-Shabaab militants.
Lower Shabelle is a strategic belt southwest of the capital, and AU deployments have helped shield Mogadishu. Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud travelled to Uganda this week urging President Yoweri Museveni to keep Ugandan troops in Somalia.
Why it mattersSomalia's security near the capital, Mogadishu, is threatened by the withdrawal of AU troops from key bases in the Lower Shabelle region.