African Union Transition Mission in Somalia

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African Union Transition Mission in Somalia
Hawlgalka Isbeddelka Midowga Afrika ee Somaaliya
LeadersHead of ATMIS Ambassador Mohamed El-Amine Souef
ATMIS Force Commander Lt. Gen. Sam Kavuma
Police Commissioner Hillary Sao Kanu
[1]
Dates of operation1 April 2022 – present
Headquarters Mogadishu
Size14,626 uniformed personnel, inclusive of 1,040 police personnel [2]
AlliesFlag of Somalia.svg Somalia
OpponentsAQMI Flag asymmetric.svg Al-Shabaab
Battles and wars Somali Civil War
Preceded by
AMISOM
Succeeded by
AUSSOM
Hillary Sao Kanu, commissioner of Police for ATMIS hands over a certificate for the completion of training to a police officer from the Somali Police Force on 2 January 2024. ATMIS Somali police Jan2024.jpg
Hillary Sao Kanu, commissioner of Police for ATMIS hands over a certificate for the completion of training to a police officer from the Somali Police Force on 2 January 2024.

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) is an active African Union transition and drawdown mission from peacekeeping operations in Somalia. Formerly the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), ATMIS's mandate will end in 2024, with full transition of security operations to the Somali National Armed Forces. [3] ATMIS consists of troops from the East African nations of Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. [4]

Contents

ATMIS is due to transition into the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) at the start of 2025. [5] However financial constraints and rising tensions between Somalia and Ethiopia during late 2024 will possibly delay the transition. [6]

Overview

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia was formed on 1 April 2022, following the end of the AMISOM mandate on 31 March. The mission is focused on both military and institutional autonomy of the Somali government as the African Union pulls out. [7] The mission's mandate is set to end on 31 December 2024, when Somali Security Forces are expected to fully take over the security responsibilities of the country, guided by the Somalia Transition Plan. The first reduction of troops to ease into the end of the peacekeeping mission will take place in December 2022. [3] In May 2024, Somalia asked the United Nations to end this peacekeeping operation with the African Union. [8]

On 2 March 2023 Hillary Sao Kanu is named Commissioner of Police of the ATMIS with the aim to maintain security and stability in the region, train the local police force and provide equipment. [9] [10]

Response from Somalia

On 6 April 2022, the Prime Minister of Somalia Mohamed Hussein Roble orders African Union Ambassador to Somalia Francisco Madeira persona non grata to leave the country within 48 hours because of "engaging in acts that are incompatible with his status," after audio emerged of him criticizing government officials for not dealing with national security problems. President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a major critic of PM Roble, immediately rejects the expulsion. [11] [12] On 16 April 2022, plans for a new African Union ambassador to come to Somalia to replace Francisco Madeira begin, after the controversy on 6 April that soured relations with the Prime Minister. [12]

Major Incidents and Casualties

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Somalia (2006–2009)</span> Armed conflict in the Horn of Africa

The Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, also known as the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia or the Ethiopian intervention in the Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict that lasted from late 2006 to early 2009. It began when military forces from Ethiopia, supported by the United States, invaded Somalia to depose the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The conflict continued after the invasion when an anti-Ethiopian insurgency emerged and rapidly escalated. During 2007 and 2008, the insurgency recaptured the majority of territory lost by the ICU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Union Mission to Somalia</span> Intervention force in Somalia 2007-2022

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was a Multinational force formed by the African Union. The operation deployed to Somalia soon after the Islamic Courts Union was deposed by troops from Ethiopia during a large scale invasion in late 2006. The missions primary objective was to maintain the regime change between the ICU and the newly installed Transitional Federal Government, implement a national security plan and train the TFG security forces. As part of its duties, AMISOM later supported the Federal Government of Somalia in its war against Al-Shabaab. AMISOM was the most deadly peacekeeping operation in the post-war era.

Various international and local diplomatic and humanitarian efforts in the Somali Civil War have been in effect since the conflict first began in the early 1990s. The latter include diplomatic initiatives put together by the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union, as well as humanitarian efforts led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP), the Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) and the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 timeline of the Somali Civil War</span>

The 2009 timeline of events in the Somalia War (2006–2009) during January 2009 is set out below. From the beginning of February the timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present) is set out following the conclusion of the previous phase of the civil war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somali Civil War (2009–present)</span> Ongoing conflict in the Horn of Africa

The Somali Civil War (2009–present) is the ongoing phase of the Somali Civil War which is concentrated in southern and central Somalia. It began in late January 2009 with the present conflict mainly between the forces of the Federal Government of Somalia assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops and al-Shabaab militants who pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda during 2012.

Two large-scale attacks against AMISOM soldiers carried out by al-Shabaab suicide bombers in Mogadishu, Somalia occurred in 2009. In total 32 people, including 28 AMISOM soldiers, were killed and 55 people were injured.

Bulo Marer is a town in the southwestern Lower Shebelle region of Somalia. It was a base of Al-Shabaab, and was the site of an ill-fated 2013 military operation during which French commandos attempted to free a French hostage that was being held by the insurgent group. The town was taken by Somali government forces assisted by AMISOM troops after a battle on August 30, 2014. It was the site of the 2024 African Union base attack in Bulo Marer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mogadishu (2010–2011)</span>

The Battle of Mogadishu (2010–11) began on 23 August 2010 when al-Shabaab insurgents began attacking government and African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) positions in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab began its offensive after its spokesman said the group was declaring a "massive war" on troops sent by AMISOM, describing its 6,000 peacekeepers as "invaders". In December 2010 the number of AMISOM troops was increased to 8,000 and later to 9,000. The battle's name usually includes the years, when referenced, in order to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades long Somali Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qoryoley</span> Town in South West State of Somalia, Somalia

Qoryoley is a town in the Lower Shebelle region of the South West State of Somalia. It is located 123 kilometers southwest of the capital city Mogadishu and 23 kilometers west of the coastal city of Merca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Linda Nchi</span> Kenyan military operation (2011–2012)

Operation Linda Nchi was the Kenya Defence Forces' invasion of southern Somalia beginning in 2011. The Kenyan government declared the operation completed in March 2012, but its forces then joined AMISOM in Somalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 timeline of the Somali Civil War</span>

This is a 2012 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 timeline of the Somali Civil War</span>

This is a 2014 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 timeline of the Somali Civil War</span>

This is a 2015 timeline of events in the Somali Civil War (2009–present).

The Golweyn ambush by al-Shabaab militants against an AMISOM convoy took place on 30 July 2017. Resulting in the death of several Ugandan soldiers, the attack seriously disrupted the control of pro-government forces over the Lower Shebelle region in Somalia, eventually leading to the fall of the strategically significant town of Leego to al-Shabaab.

On 1 April 2018, Al-Shabaab fighters attacked an AMISOM base in Bulo Marer in the Lower Shebelle region of Somalia.

On August 10, 2021, a patrol of Ugandan soldiers that formed part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) were ambushed and attacked in a farmland about 2½ kilometers from Golweyn by Al-Shabaab Islamic militants while on a routine patrol to secure the main supply route along the Beldamin-Golweyn Forward Operating Base in the Lower Shabelle.
This attack was followed by an exchange of gunfire between AMISOM forces and Al-Shabaab militants, that lasted several hours. "During the counterattack, 7 terrorists were killed while others sustained injuries and an assortment of weapons was recovered," AMISOM said in a tweet. Also one Ugandan soldier died. But afterwards, reports were received that the 7 deceased were not members of Al-Shabaab but civilians and that they had been killed by AMISOM forces, upon which the tweet was deleted. Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, the Governor of Lower Shabelle confirmed after talking to local residents, that five farmers and two others whose vehicle broke down on the side of the road, were killed by the AMISOM soldiers after the ambush by al-Shabaab. District Commissioner Nur Osman Rage, detailed that after their encounter with Al-Shabaab, AMISOM forces "diverted to a nearby farm, picked an elderly farmer and four of his workers, blindfolded them and paraded them on the tarmac road. They then stopped two trucks on transit in the area, picked the two drivers, blindfolded them and together with the other five, took them to a point where an IED was planted, forced the civilians to sit on the device and detonated it on the seven victims who were blindfolded, instantly killing them.” The incident was allegedly witnessed firsthand by Somali security officers, local elders and many others in the area.

Events in the year 2022 in Somalia.

The battle of Buulo Mareer took place on 26 May 2023, when Al-Shabaab fighters stormed an African Union military camp manned by Ugandan forces in the town of Bulo Marer, Lower Shabelle, Somalia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia</span> African Union mission in Somalia

The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) will serve as the African Union's new peacekeeping and stabilization operation in Somalia. Succeeding the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), The mission is expected to start in 2025, that may include troops from the East African Nations of Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Kenya, and Burundi.

References

  1. "HEAD OF ATMIS HAILS UN COLLABORATION IN FOSTERING PEACE IN SOMALIA". atmis-au.org . 2 December 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  2. "HEAD OF ATMIS HAILS UN COLLABORATION IN FOSTERING PEACE IN SOMALIA". atmis-au.org . 18 November 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 "AMISOM officially transitions to ATMIS, to stay in Somalia for 33 months". Garowe Online . 5 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Al-Shabaab claims deadly attack on AU base in Somalia". Africanews . 4 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  5. ""AUSSOM" New AU Mission in Somalia; Burkina Faso Reaches Boiling Point". Institute for the Study of War . 22 August 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  6. "ATMIS transition in Somalia could stall due to funding shortages, rising Ethiopia tensions". Hiiraan Online . 28 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  7. Wambui, Mary; Khalif, Abdulkadir (6 March 2022). "Somalia enters transition as Amisom gives way to ATMIS". The East African . Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  8. "ONU: la Somalie demande la cessation de la Manusom dans le pays". Africanews (in French). 11 May 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  9. "Commissioner of Sierra Leone Police Arrives in Somalia". Sierraloaded. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  10. APO Group (9 November 2023). "African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) donates Equipment to Somali Police Force". The Guardian Nigeria News. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  11. Maruf, Harun (6 April 2022). "Somali Prime Minister Orders African Union Envoy to Leave Country". VOA News . Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  12. 1 2 Stein, Chris (16 April 2022). "New leader expected at AU mission in Somalia after Madeira diplomatic tiff". The East African . Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  13. "Press Statement of the Security Council on attack against ATMIS". african.business. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  14. Bankukira, Bernard (20 May 2022). "Somalia: Al-Shabaab ntishobora gutsindwa mu nzira ya gisirikare – umuhinga" [Somalia: Al-Shabaab Cannot Be Defeated by Military - Expert] (in Kinyarwanda). BBC . Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  15. "Shabaab overruns Ugandan base in Somalia | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  16. "Al-Shabab killed 54 Ugandan soldiers in Somalia, says Museveni". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  17. "Uganda: Corruption, no quality control…factors in AU Somalia mission attack". The Africa Report.com. Retrieved 24 June 2023.