Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops deployed under African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) after almost twenty years.
Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Force announced Thursday that Ugandan army had started handing security responsibilities to Somali forces.
The departure of Ugandan troops leaves a big security vacuum and this recently promoted Somalias leader to fly to Uganda for discussions with President Museveni.
Somalia is seeking a bilateral military cooperation agreement with Uganda that has been the largest contributor of Amisom troops.
On 1 July, the United States (US) notified the AU that it would not provide funding for the Amisom mission beyond 31st December.
Washington’s decision to freeze funding results from Somali federal government’s failure to take full ownership of its security functions and sustain the progress made against al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups.
The funds were fundamentally for supporting troop transport, aviation support, fuel, food, water, medical services and field sustainment for nearly 12 000 AU mission personnel and 20 900 Somali Security Forces.
Troops contributions came from; Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sierra Leone others include, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia.
Uganda historically made up the largest single national contingent (roughly a third of the force).
According to independent data, during the course of Amisom mission, between 1,108 to over 1,600+ troops died in action.
