Security forces
AMISOM, the African Union Mission in Somalia, 2007–2022
AMISOM was the African Union's military and police mission in Somalia from 2007 to March 2022. Uganda sent the first troops in March 2007; Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone followed. At its peak the UN authorised more than 22,000 personnel. With the Somali army it pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 and out of the main southern ports by 2014. It was replaced by ATMIS on 1 April 2022.
In short
AMISOM was the largest African Union operation of its time. It was created after Ethiopia's army and the Transitional Federal Government drove the Islamic Courts out of Mogadishu in December 2006 (see The Islamic Courts Union, 2006). It was followed by ATMIS in 2022 and by AUSSOM in 2025. Other foreign bodies in the country are listed in International bodies in Somalia.
Mandate
The AU Peace and Security Council approved AMISOM on 19 January 2007 with a six-month mandate. The UN Security Council endorsed it in February 2007 and renewed it many times (Wikipedia, African Union Mission to Somalia). The Council on Foreign Relations records that Uganda was the first contributor and kept the largest contingent (Council on Foreign Relations, Al-Shabaab backgrounder).
Troops
The UN raised the authorised ceiling from 12,000 (2010) to 17,731 (February 2012) and 22,126 (from 2014), and set a reduction to 19,626 by February 2020 (Wikipedia, citing UN Security Council resolutions 2036, 2124 and 2472). CFR put the force at about 20,000 in 2022 (CFR).
Late in the mission the contingents were (Wikipedia, citing AMISOM figures):
| Country | Troops |
|---|---|
| Uganda | 6,223 |
| Burundi | 5,432 |
| Ethiopia | 4,395 |
| Kenya | 3,664 |
| Djibouti | 960 |
| Police (Nigeria, Ghana and others) | about 250 |
Sierra Leone sent about 850 troops but withdrew them during the Ebola epidemic (same source).
Commanders
Force commanders included Major General Levi Karuhanga of Uganda (2007–2008), Major General Francis Okello of Uganda (2008–2009), Lieutenant General Osman Noor Soubagleh of Djibouti (2016–2018), Lieutenant General Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire of Uganda (2018–2019), Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn of Ethiopia (2019–2020) and Lieutenant General Diomede Ndegeya of Burundi (2020–2021). Francisco Madeira of Mozambique was the AU's special representative from 2015 (Wikipedia).
Main operations
- Mogadishu, 2010–2011. Ugandan and Burundian troops with Somali forces pushed al-Shabaab out of the capital; it announced a withdrawal in August 2011 (Wikipedia; CFR).
- Kenya, October 2011. Kenya sent its army into southern Somalia in Operation Linda Nchi and later joined AMISOM; Kenyan forces and Somali allies took Kismayo in 2012 (CFR).
- Afgooye, May 2012. Operation Free Shabelle.
- Barawe, August–October 2014. Operation Indian Ocean, with Somali forces and US support, took the port of Barawe (Wikipedia).
Losses
The AU did not publish full casualty figures. Wikipedia, drawing on SIPRI and press reports, lists more than 550 known deaths, while saying the true number is likely much higher. Al-Shabaab overran several bases, among them Janaale (1 September 2015, Ugandan troops), El Adde (15 January 2016, Kenyan troops, 141 killed according to Stanford's Mapping Militants project) and Bulamarer (1 April 2018, 46 killed) (Wikipedia; Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University). On 17 September 2009 a suicide bombing at its headquarters killed the deputy force commander, Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi (Wikipedia).
Funding
The European Union paid troop allowances, the UN provided logistics through its support office, and the United States spent several billion dollars over a decade training and equipping AMISOM and Somali forces (Wikipedia; CFR). In 2007 the first pledges were US$40 million from the US, €15 million from the EU and US$11.6 million from the AU (Wikipedia).
Record of abuses
In September 2014 Human Rights Watch published "The Power These Men Have Over Us", based on 50 interviews including 21 Somali women and girls, almost all displaced. It documented 10 cases of rape or sexual assault and 14 of sexual exploitation, mostly at the main AMISOM base near Mogadishu airport, run largely by Ugandan troops, and at the Burundian base in the national university compound. Troop-sending countries have sole jurisdiction over their soldiers, and Human Rights Watch found only two investigations since 2012, neither ending in a conviction. It reported that AMISOM at first denied or played down the allegations (Human Rights Watch, 8 September 2014).
The end of AMISOM
The UN Security Council's last extension ran to 31 March 2022. On 1 April 2022 the mission became the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, ATMIS (Wikipedia).
Read the primary sources yourself
Sources
- Wikipedia, African Union Mission to Somalia · en.wikipedia.org
- Council on Foreign Relations, Al-Shabaab backgrounder · cfr.org
- Mapping Militant Organizations, Stanford University · mappingmilitants.org
- Human Rights Watch, 8 September 2014 · hrw.org
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- AUSSOM, the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, 2025 to nowAUSSOM, the AU mission since January 2025: how it was approved, its size and troop allocations, Egypt and Ethiopia, Burundi's exit, and the funding gap.
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