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AU mission concludes first phase of troop withdrawal from Somalia


Friday June 30, 2023

The African Union (AU) Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said on Thursday that it has completed the first phase of troop withdrawal from Somalia with the handover of military bases in the capital of Mogadishu and the southern region.

ATMIS said Mogadishu's Aljazeera One training military base and Jubaland State's Geriley base, located in southern Somalia, were handed over to the Somali security forces on Thursday.

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"This brings the total number of Forward Operating Bases (military bases) handed over to Somalia security forces to six, while the Marka Ayub facility was closed," Shitanda Terence Soita, Geriley base commander, said in a statement issued in Mogadishu by the AU mission.

Aljazeera One training military base was manned by Uganda People's Defence Forces, while the Geriley base was manned by Kenya Defence Forces.

ATMIS is expected to withdraw 2,000 troops by the end of June and another 3,000 by September in compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2628 and 2670, which mandates ATMIS to also hand over security responsibilities in agreed areas to Somali security forces.



 





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