War in Somalia: The African Union suspended the withdrawal of peacekeepers because of the threat of al-Shababa

Over the past year, peacekeeping forces in Somalia have released a large part of the territory from Ash-Shabab fighters, but the national army may not withstand if all peacekeepers are removed from the country. The peacekeeping mission in Somalia has been going on for almost 17 years. The African Union (AU) was to carry out the next stage of roughing of peacekeepers with almost 18 thousand people. However, the withdrawal is postponed. About it reports the newspaper The Economist.

According to the publication, the next stage of withdrawal of 3000 peacekeepers of the African Union was postponed. It had to begin at the end of September, but because of fears that Somalia's army will not be able to hold the conquered territory, plans were postponed. The army and peacekeepers occupied the territory received by Jihadists "Ash-Shabab". The US military command in Africa called "the largest and most secreted Al-Qaeda network in the world.

" Sources of journalists say that the AU decided to leave 3000 fighters. The official statement is expected in the UN Security Council next week, as it requires approval to continue the transitional mission of the African Union in Somal. In addition, it should not be more than 14 626, and by the end of 2024 it should be completely withdrawn from Somalia.

However, the question remains who will allocate funds for the continuation of the operation, because in 2007 the EU allocated an ATMIS 2 billion euros and continued to pay the promised funds for a long time. At the same time, Somali is really successful in knocking out fighters from his own territory. In 2022, the clans rebelled against Ash-Shabab in the central part of Somalia, because they called people to their groups and confiscated cattle.

Therefore, the new President Hasan Sheikh Mohamud sent a national army in support of local people, assisted by Turkish and American aviation. Together, they managed to displace Al-Shabab from a third of Somali territory. The US Secretary of Defense even said that more success has been achieved in 2022 than in the last 5 years. The main problem is the weakness, disorganization and poor weapons of the National Army.

After withdrawing in June, 2000 peacekeepers from some bases, military samalists steel target for Ash-Shabab. "We do not have the strength necessary to keep the positions that will release Atmis," says Ali Mohammed Omar, the State Foreign Minister. 10,000 fighters were recruited into the army, but they were still not well trained to stabilize the territories that were released. But even if atmis is complete, Somalia can help Ethiopia and Kenya that have a common border.