The military says all Ugandan forces, including those in the African Union mission, will leave by the end of 2027, with the Somali Armed Forces to assume responsibility for security.
Uganda’s military said on 2 November that the first troops deployed under bilateral agreements with Somalia had returned home. It plans to withdraw all Ugandan forces from Somalia, including those in the African Union mission, by the end of 2027.
Uganda was the first country to deploy troops under the African Union Mission in Somalia in March 2007, supporting Somalia’s government against the Islamist militant group Al-Shabab. The Ugandan army says its departure will permit Somali forces to take full responsibility for the country’s security.
Col Chris Magezi, Uganda’s acting director of defense public information, said the withdrawal of troops serving under bilateral arrangements would be completed within the next few days. An initial contingent of 109 soldiers left Mogadishu on 30 October.
About 2,000 Ugandan troops were deployed under those agreements, alongside roughly 4,500 serving in the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM. Uganda’s chief of defense forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the previous Thursday that the withdrawal and handover of security responsibilities had begun.
Ugandan troops have served in successive African Union missions. AUSSOM replaced the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia in 2025 and aims to strengthen Somali security institutions and prepare the country’s forces to take responsibility for security.
Ugandan forces helped drive Al-Shabab from Mogadishu and several major towns. The group has since recaptured territory and controls significant areas of central and southern Somalia.
AUSSOM relies heavily on UN logistical support for food, water, fuel, medical services and troop transportation. A US State Department spokesperson told
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Washington had said in July that it would seek to prevent UN support for the peacekeepers from January 2027. It later said it would support a 12-month drawdown of the support office followed by its closure; diplomatic and Somali government sources said the countdown would begin in January. The US has expressed frustration with progress against Al-Shabab and accused Somalia’s government of failing to unite the country and carry out political reforms.
The UN’s separate political mission, the Transitional Assistance Mission in Somalia, closed on Saturday, transferring responsibility to Somalia’s government and UN agencies.
Regional security analyst Samira Gaid said closing the support office could end AUSSOM unless the African Union finds alternative logistical arrangements; otherwise, she said, the mission would have to draw down and leave. The US State Department spokesperson said the UN Security Council was expected to discuss the drawdown process and timetable in December.
Afyare Elmi, a professor at the City University of Mogadishu, said AUSSOM was a key pillar of Somalia’s state and that without it the country would face a real risk of state fragmentation and disintegration.
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