Why Somalia Wants Another Foreign Force After ATMIS Is Done

Ten months before the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) winds up its 17-year assignment in the Horn of Africa nation, it has emerged that Mogadishu has requested a smaller mission as the successor of the AU force to act as a post-transition protection force for the local and international communities in the country.

TQhe Federal Government of Somalia pondered the impact of the looming exit of Atmis and lodged the request in December last year in New York, for the establishment of a new mission as a post-transition protection force for the local communities and the international community.

“While Somalia has made strides in the fight against al-Shabaab, Somalia acknowledges that it is not yet ready to take over full responsibility for its security sector from Atmis by 2024,” said a spokesperson for the European Union, a key security and state building partner for Somalia.