The AU commander gave signed documents to his Somali counterpart, marking the handing over of the military base, approximately km from Mogadishu, to the Somali Army. Since the beginning of June, similar ceremonies have been taking place at military bases across Somalia. These ceremonies come as the African Union AU is winding down its peacekeeping mission in the country, leading to concerns about what will happen when AU soldiers finally depart at the end of When peacekeepers were first deployed, the al-Qaeda-linked armed group controlled nearly all territories in south-central Somalia.
Working with Somali security forces, the AU soldiers pushed the fighters into rural areas, and as it stands, al-Shabab mainly controls only those. However, the combined efforts to defeat the group over the years have killed thousands of civilians and now, as the phasing out of ATMIS begins, there has been a debate about its success — or lack thereof. According to a report compiled by ACLED , an independent data collection group, more than 4, civilians have been killed in al-Shabab attacks since , and many more were injured, while four million people were internally displaced due to the conflict.
In April this year, the head of the AU mission in Somalia, Mohamed El-Amine Souef, confirmed that about 3, troops, mainly from Uganda and Burundi, were killed and more than 5, were injured since the mission started. The group also maintains limited but effective administrative control over local populations in south-central Somalia.
Over three decades, the Horn of Africa nation has been lacking a professional army due to prolonged conflict, and there is a widespread belief that it is a long way from having a truly effective national force. However, the winding down of the mission has created uncertainty about whether Somalia can build an effective country-wide security presence, and its limited resources are also a key factor. Mubarak believes Mogadishu will be unable to fund its forces in the foreseeable future and will continue to rely on external support, even after the ATMIS drawdown.
The United States, which trained the Danab Brigade, an elite Somali special operations unit which has been carrying out drone attacks, is also believed to have played a vital role in defeating the group.
