Somalia and African Union settle troop numbers for new AUSSOM mission

# Somalia and African Union settle troop numbers for new AUSSOM mission

Event date: 2025-02-26

Somalia and the African Union have agreed on troop numbers for the new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, after weeks of disputes over contributions from Ethiopia and Burundi, according to the supplied VOA report. The mission is expected to deploy 11,900 personnel on the ground, including soldiers, police and civilian support staff. The agreement closes one diplomatic gap but leaves other questions open, especially about funding and Burundian participation.

The VOA report says the troop distribution gives 4,500 soldiers to Uganda, 2,500 to Ethiopia, 1,520 to Djibouti, 1,410 to Kenya and 1,091 to Egypt. It also says several hundred police personnel from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Egypt are expected to serve in Mogadishu, Jowhar and Baidoa. That level of specificity turns the mission from a general plan into a concrete force package.

Burundi remains a live issue. An anonymous AU official told VOA that Burundian forces who have been in Somalia since 2007 were expected to leave after disagreements over troop numbers, although a second diplomat said negotiations were still ongoing. The report adds that the departure would carry political and financial consequences for the AU. In other words, the troop-count agreement did not settle every political dispute around the mission.

The final arrangement followed an easing of diplomatic tension between Somalia and Ethiopia. The report says the two sides repaired ties after a breakthrough in Ankara and then confirmed Ethiopian participation in the mission following a visit to Mogadishu by senior Ethiopian officials. Ethiopian troops are expected to remain in the same regions they have operated in for years, including Gedo, Bay, Bakool and Hiran.

The security backdrop is still severe. VOA says al-Shabab remains a threat to the internationally backed government, and the report notes a fresh militant attack in central Somalia as well as a separate offensive against Islamic State militants in Puntland. The verified story is therefore both practical and strategic: the parties have settled the manpower table for AUSSOM, but the mission is entering a landscape that is still unstable and underfunded.

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