The United Nations Security Council decided Friday to cut 1,000 troops from a regional peacekeeping force in Somalia, despite a rise in attacks by the Al-Shabaab militia in Mogadishu.
The council voted unanimously to draw down the African UnionMission in Somalia (AMISOM), but left the door open for the council to revisitthat decision if violence worsens. The resolution put forward by Britainreduces AMISOM troops by 1,000 to a ceiling of 19,626 by February 28, butmaintains 1,040 police. The force’s mandate was extended for a year.
Under a transition plan agreed in 2017, AMISOM willgradually hand over security to Somali forces, but the African Union has raisedconcern about the extra responsibility as the country heads to elections nextyear.
The United Nations is seeking to shore up stability inSomalia, where Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab fighters have been seeking to topplethe government for a decade. The Shabaab were chased out of Mogadishu in 2011by AMISOM, and have had to abandon most of their strongholds, but they stillcontrol vast rural areas and remain the key threat to peace in Somalia.
A joint AU-UN security review presented to the council thismonth raised alarm over a surge of Shabaab attacks in the capital including aJanuary 1 mortar assault on the UN compound. In March alone, Al-Shabaab carriedout two major attacks in Mogadishu using 28 improvised explosive devices, saidthe review.Last week, a former Somali foreign minister wasamong five people killed in a car bombing in Mogadishu that was claimed by theShabaab. AMISOM was established in 2007 and includes troops from Burundi,Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda deployed in south and central Somalia.