Tuesday June 13, 2023
MOGADISHU, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from the African Union (AU) Military Staff Committee has wrapped up a fact-finding mission in Somalia by reaffirming its resolve to hand over military bases to the Somali security forces by the end of June.
The 23-member team, with members from the AU Peace and Security Council, was in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to assess the security situation ahead of a planned reduction of AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) troops at the end of June and in September.
"We have agreed to hand over a number of Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) to the Somali government from June 15, 2023, as we reduce our numbers by 2,000 soldiers," Mohammed El-Amine Souef, the special representative of the Chairperson of the AU Commission for Somalia and head of ATMIS, said in a statement issued in Mogadishu on Monday evening.
The delegation, which included defense attaches from 17 African countries, met with the leadership of ATMIS, the Somali government, and the United Nations in Mogadishu.
Souef said ATMIS remains committed to handing over security responsibilities to the government, and preparations for troop reduction are far advanced and on schedule.
"What we have done for the drawdown was to establish a tripartite technical committee which includes representatives from the government, the UN Support office to Somalia (UNSOS), and ATMIS to plan the details," Souef added.
He called on the international community to support the lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia to enable Somali Security Forces to take ownership of the country's security in the fight against the al-Shabaab militant group.
Somali Minister of Defence Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur praised the coordination efforts between ATMIS, the UNSOS, and the government to ensure a smooth transfer of security responsibilities to the Somali Security Forces.
"The Ministry of Defence had taken the lead on this assignment, and the handover and takeover are a testament that our Somali Security Forces have demonstrated their strength to take over security in their country," Mohamed said.
Head of the delegation for the AU Military Staff Committee Ernest Shamu said the visit was a fulfillment of the committee's obligation to advise the AU Peace and Security Council on security matters essential for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security in Africa.
"The technical field mission was to obtain firsthand information on the realities in Somalia with a view of advising the Peace and Security Council to take evidence-based decisions within the context of the drawdown of the AU Transition Mission in Somalia troops," Shamu said.