African leaders push to extend threatened AU mission to Somalia
KAMPALA - Leaders of countries making up an African Union military mission in Somalia on Friday insisted they wanted to extend its mandate, despite Washington e
International
2026-08-032026-08-03By Correspondent
KAMPALA – Leaders of countries making up an African Union military mission in Somalia on Friday insisted they wanted to extend its mandate, despite Washington ending political and critical financial support. Somalia has battled Al-Shabaab insurgents for around two decades but the Islamist group still controls vast swathes of the country.
The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) is the leading force supporting the Somali army, providing roughly 12 000 troops.
But the United States has announced it will end support to the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), which crucially provides logistics to the mission, at the end of this year.
Washington, the main financial contributor to UNSOS, said it would also oppose any further UN logistical support to AUSSOM.
In a 1 July letter, Washington accused Somalia’s government of a lack of progress against Al-Shabaab and in addressing security and governance challenges. Leaders in the Ugandan capital Kampala stressed the need for “an orderly, coordinated and phased exit of AUSSOM”.
