Uganda Begins Withdrawing Troops From Somalia: Ending a Nearly 20-Year Deployment, Military Says All Forces Will Leave Gradually by the End of 2027
MOGADISHU, November 2 — Uganda said on Monday, November 2, that it has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia as part of a phased drawdown that will end an almost two-decade deployment helping Mogadishu fight the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgency.
According to Reuters on November 2, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson Chris Magezi said in a statement that Uganda has begun drawing down troops deployed under bilateral arrangements with Somalia's Federal Government, "effective immediately," and will gradually withdraw all its forces from Somalia, including those serving under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), by the end of 2027. Reuters reported that Uganda has about 4,500 troops deployed under AUSSOM, though it is unclear how many additional forces are deployed under a separate bilateral arrangement. According to the BBC, a first contingent of 109 UPDF troops left the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday, October 30; Uganda's army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, announced last week that the withdrawal had started and that security responsibility would pass to Somali forces, writing: "As we promised, we have started withdrawing UPDF from Somalia. After 20 years of a lot of blood and sacrifice, we are handing over security to our Somali brothers."
Uganda was the first African country to deploy troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), established in 2007 to help protect the country's transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants. Reuters reported that in an October 31 letter from AUSSOM to the UN Support Office in Somalia, verified by two diplomatic sources, the mission warned the withdrawal could leave parts of the Lower Shabelle region vulnerable to al Shabaab attacks. Somali State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Omar told Reuters that things are not dire now, but the withdrawal could create problems if Ugandan troops leave. Al Shabaab has waged an insurgency against Somalia's government for about two decades, seeking to seize power and impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The BBC reported that a first contingent of 109 Ugandan troops left Mogadishu on October 30, but said Ugandan troops deployed under the bilateral security arrangement would remain in Somalia and put completion of a phased withdrawal in August 2027, a different account from the end-of-2027 full withdrawal the Ugandan military described to Reuters; Ugandan officials had not further clarified the discrepancy.
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
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Photo: 乌干达人民国防军士兵列队（资料图）。 UPDF soldiers marching (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0，图片来源：Wikimedia Commons。 CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
