MOGADISHU – African Union peacekeepers are preparing to take over four military bases near Somalia’s capital as Ugandan forces withdraw, an effort aimed at preventing al-Shabab from taking advantage of a potential security gap, according to a mission letter to the U.N. support office in Somalia obtained by The Associated Press.
Uganda has said it intends to remove all of its troops from Somalia by the end of 2027, bringing a 20-year military presence to a close. The forces now departing were sent under a separate security agreement with Somalia’s government, while Uganda also maintains personnel in the African Union peacekeeping mission.
Financial constraints have helped speed up the withdrawal, said Farhan Isak Yusuf, deputy executive director of Somali Public Agenda, a Mogadishu-based policy research group. Uganda’s military announcement did not explain why the troops serving under the bilateral agreement were leaving at this stage.
The peacekeepers are expected to pull out of Barawe, a coastal town roughly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southwest of Mogadishu. It remains uncertain which forces will occupy the bases after the Ugandan troops depart.
Two stages of withdrawal
Uganda announced Monday that its pullout was underway and that the first soldiers had already returned home. Military spokesman Col. Chris Magezi said troops deployed through the bilateral arrangement would complete their departure within days. Other Ugandan personnel, including those serving with the AU mission, are expected to leave in phases through the end of 2027.
An Oct. 31 letter said Uganda dispatched the bilateral force after African leaders called for additional troops to combat al-Shabab at a summit in April 2025. Over the following 17 months, the soldiers helped Somali and allied forces retake and defend territory from the militant group.
The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia intends to assume control of four bases — Sabid-Anole, Bariire, Awdheegle and Bulonagad — during troop rotations planned for November. The mission described the positions as strategically important to the defense of Mogadishu.
Securing the bases left behind
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Somali army commander Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud traveled to Barawe on Monday, where he received updates on the security situation, according to a statement from the army.
He ordered soldiers to maintain heightened vigilance and step up operations against al-Shabab. The statement did not clarify whether Somali forces would replace the African Union troops at the bases.
Somali and AU forces seized Barawe from al-Shabab in 2014. The port had served as a key channel for the group to move fighters and weapons, while charcoal exports provided an important source of funding for its insurgency.
Yusuf said Somalia’s army is operating with limited resources in an especially challenging security climate. He described Lower Shabelle, the region where the departing Ugandan troops were based, as vital to safeguarding Mogadishu.
Uganda’s withdrawal timetable follows the recent shutdown of the United Nations’ political mission in Somalia. That closure ended more than 30 years of successive U.N. missions that supported reconstruction efforts and helped mediate the country’s political disputes.
U.N. humanitarian agencies continue to operate in Somalia, while a separate support office still supplies equipment and transportation to African Union peacekeepers and some Somali security units.
Somali officials have presented the end of the political mission as a step toward greater national control of the country’s affairs. The transition, however, is unfolding amid a dispute over whether the president can remain in office and a persistent wave of militant attacks.
Last week, a military officer who survived an ambush said at least 20 Somali soldiers had been killed in the Bay region. The government confirmed that military vehicles were damaged but did not report any troop deaths.
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