The African Union member countries will provide 12,000 troops to replace the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) from next year.
Somalia’s National Security Advisor Hussein Sheikh-Ali said this on Monday.
Sheikh-Ali mentioned that the new batch of troops is ready to take over from ATMIS, which will pull the last of its troops from Somalia by December 31, 2024.
ATMIS has been undertaking a gradual drawdown of its forces.
The drawdown is currently on Phase 3.
The new troops from AU countries will have a mandate of one year.
In that time, it will be responsible for securing key installations in all parts of the country from January to December 2025.