AFRICAN UNION TO EXPAND SOMALIA OPERATIONS

Mon 11 October 2021:

As its present mandate expires on December 31, the African Union says it would extend and expand its military operations in Somalia against Al-Qaeda-linked Islamists to include other member states.

In recent months, the Horn of Africa nation has experienced fresh turmoil, with long-running election delays and an ongoing feud between its president and prime minister diverting focus away from a jihadist insurgency fought by Al-Shabaab.

Despite the insurgents’ ouster from Mogadishu a decade ago, Somalia’s government still only controls a small area of the nation, due to the critical assistance of 20,000 African Union forces (AMISOM).

AMISOM late Sunday said the AU’s Peace and Security Council had agreed to shift to a joint mission with the UN that would enable “other willing and interested AU Member States” to join operations against the Islamists.

The statement also urged President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble to resolve their differences and “re-focus on concluding the overdue elections without further delay”.

“The ongoing political stand-off between the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister is contributing to the worsening security situation, as the political authorities find their attention distracted from governance matters,” the statement said.

The plan will need to be endorsed by the UN Security Council and the government in Mogadishu.

The AU expressed “grave concern at the worsening security situation in Somalia,” where there had been a “worrying resurgence” of Al-Shabaab activities.

In the city and elsewhere, extremists carry out fatal strikes against civilian and military objectives on a regular basis.

Following tense talks between Western countries and African members of the UN Security Council over funding for the peacekeepers, the UN Security Council extended AMISOM’s mission until December in March.

Sunday’s AU statement asked the UN Security Council “to consider a technical roll-over of the AMISOM mandate, while discussions continue on the details and modalities for transition towards the post-2021 arrangement.”

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