Hiiraan Online
Sunday, May 08, 2016
Paddy Ankunda, UPDF spokesman
MOGADISHU (HOL) – Ugandan government has denied reports that it was considering to pull out its troops serving under- the African Union mission Somalia after over nine years of service.
Quoting an army spokesman, BBC has reported that the government has formed a special committee which would review the country’s military plan in Somalia before a withdrawal decision was reached.
However, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, the spokesman of Ugandan Defense Force (UPDF) has denied the reports Sunday, saying that the East African nation’s troops would remain in Somalia.
Uganda and Burundi were the first African nations that contributed troops to the now 22000-strong African Union force in Somalia, deploying the first AU solders in Mogadishu in 2007.
The force have made major gains against once stubborn insurgent group, by ousting the feared Al Shabab fighters from Mogadishu and surrounding regions in recent years.
The development comes few weeks after the European Union announced a 20 per cent cut in payments for the African Union forces serving in Somalia.
No reason has been given for the European Union’s funding cut decision. EU covers the full cost of AU soldiers in Somalia.
The force has been criticized for failing to oust militants from areas still under Al Shabab’s control since it was deployed in 2007, something critics said allowed once ‘dying’ Al Shabab to reorganize
and launch major attacks including three complex attacks that saw militants overrun AU military bases since last year.
AU officials have earlier warned that the 20 per cent cut in pay to the force would have a “serious adverse effect on their morale.”