The United Nations Security Council approved a new African Union force in Somalia on Friday to combat the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, with soldiers scheduled to arrive in January.
The resolution was approved by 14 of the council’s 15 member states, with the United States abstaining due to financing concerns.
The African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) will take over the mission of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, which expires on December 31.
Somalia is one of the world’s poorest countries, having seen decades of civil strife, a brutal insurgency by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab, and regular natural disasters.
Representatives from Somalia and its western neighbor Ethiopia were invited to attend the council meeting, but they were not permitted to vote.
The Council also praised Somalia’s progress in gradually increasing responsibility for its national security, including the Somali security forces taking over responsibilities from 7,000 drawn-down ATMIS soldiers by 2022.
African Union member states were authorised to continue deploying up to 12,626 uniformed people, including 1,040 police personnel, to AUSSOM until 30 June 2025, as well as to complete the realignment of all African Union forces from ATMIS to AUSSOM by that date.
The text contains a section dedicated to financing AUSSOM, including references to Council resolution 2719 (2023) — which establishes a framework for financing African Union peace support operations through UN assessed contributions.
