Security forces
Burundi's military in Somalia, 2007 to 2025
Burundi was the second country to send troops to the AU mission in Somalia, in 2007, and grew to about 5,400–5,500 soldiers, the second-largest contingent. In 2016–2017 a dispute over EU-funded allowances, after EU sanctions on Burundi, led Burundi to threaten to withdraw until a new payment deal was signed in January 2017. Burundi left the AU mission after AUSSOM began in 2025, when Somalia offered about 1,000 places and Burundi sought 2,000 to 3,000.
In short
Burundi kept troops in Somalia for about eighteen years, from 2007 until 2025, under the AU missions AMISOM, ATMIS and briefly AUSSOM. For most of that time it had the second-largest contingent after Uganda. This page records what the sources report. It is part of Foreign forces in Somalia.
Arrival and growth
Burundi was the second country, after Uganda, to send troops to AMISOM, in 2007 (Kaab TV, 26 February 2025). It had about 1,700 troops in AMISOM by the end of 2008, and at its peak about 5,500, more than a fifth of its whole army. The Institute for Security Studies writes that the deployment was a steady source of income for Burundi's army, and that after the country's 2015 political crisis cut other funding, its defence budget was largely financed through AMISOM (Bram Verelst, ISS Today, 14 January 2025). Burundian and Ugandan troops, with Somali forces, pushed al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 (see AMISOM).
Losses
- 17 September 2009. A suicide bombing at AMISOM's headquarters in Mogadishu killed the deputy force commander, Major General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi (see AMISOM).
- 3 May 2022, El Baraf, Middle Shabelle. Al-Shabaab attacked a Burundian camp. A Burundian officer said 30 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded (see ATMIS).
- Kaab TV reported in 2025 that hundreds of Burundian soldiers had died in Somalia over the deployment (Kaab TV, 2025). Burundi did not publish a total.
Human Rights Watch's 2014 report on sexual exploitation by AU troops named the Burundian base in the national university compound in Mogadishu as one of the places where abuses occurred (see AMISOM).
The allowances dispute, 2016–2017
AMISOM soldiers' allowances came from an EU-funded pool and were paid through their governments. In March 2016 Africanews, citing Reuters, reported that the government received $1,000 per soldier a month and kept $200, about $13 million a year for Burundi, and that the EU planned to stop that money passing through the government, to press President Pierre Nkurunziza into talks with the opposition after the 2015 crisis. A European diplomat said: "Support for Burundi's contingent of AMISOM cannot continue as it is" (Africanews, 29 March 2016). After months without payment, Burundi threatened in January 2017 to withdraw its 5,400 troops. On 19 January 2017 Burundi and the AU signed a memorandum on a new payment channel; the AU's peace and security commissioner, Smaïl Chergui, said: "The agreement we have reached satisfies everyone" (Africanews, 20 January 2017). See The UK and the EU in Somalia.
Exit from the AU mission, 2025
Under the ATMIS drawdown Burundi's contingent shrank. For AUSSOM, Burundi offered 3,000 of the planned 12,626 soldiers; Somalia said it would accept about 1,000, and Burundi said it would not take part. Somalia's defence minister cited a lack of consensus on numbers, and Burundian officials said the allocation would leave their soldiers exposed (ISS, 2025). Garowe Online reported in February 2025 that Burundi had wanted its contingent raised from just over 1,000 to at least 2,010, and that its troops were set to leave (Garowe Online, 26 February 2025). Egypt's planned force was later set to take a headquarters near Ciciley airfield in Middle Shabelle, an area held by Burundian troops (see Egypt's military in Somalia). Burundi had meanwhile expanded its deployment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under a 2022 bilateral arrangement (ISS, 2025).
Sources differ
- What Burundi asked for in AUSSOM. 3,000 (ISS) or at least 2,010 (Garowe Online); Somalia's offer about 1,000.
- Peak strength. About 5,400 (Africanews, 2017) or about 5,500 (ISS, 2025).
- Losses. Burundi published no total; Kaab TV reported hundreds of deaths.
Read the primary sources yourself
- Bram Verelst, "Can Burundi afford to pull its troops out of Somalia?", ISS Today (2025): article.
- Africanews, "Burundi drops threat to withdraw troops from Somalia after AU agreement" (2017): article.
- Garowe Online, "Burundi troops leave Somalia as AUSSOM faces dispute over force size" (2025): article.
Sources
- Kaab TV, 26 February 2025 · en.kaabtv.com
- Bram Verelst, ISS Today, 14 January 2025 · issafrica.org
- Africanews, 29 March 2016 · africanews.com
- Africanews, 20 January 2017 · africanews.com
- Garowe Online, 26 February 2025 · garoweonline.com
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Read the callWhere this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Jowhar (Johar) and Middle ShabelleMiddle Shabelle is the farming region along the Shabelle river north of Mogadishu, with Jowhar as its capital and about 1 to 1.26 million people.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
Keep reading
- AMISOM, the African Union Mission in Somalia, 2007–2022AMISOM, 2007–2022: mandate, troop contributors and numbers, commanders, main operations, losses, funding and the record of abuses, until it became ATMIS.
- ATMIS, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, 2022–2024ATMIS, 2022–2024: why it was created, its drawdown in phases, the bases handed over, the attacks on its camps, and the move to AUSSOM.
- 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.
- Commanders of the Somali army since 1960 (Taliyaha Ciidanka Xoogga)Every commander of the Somali armed forces since 1960, with their dates: the Republic, the military government, the transitional government and the federal government.
- Foreign forces in SomaliaWhich foreign states have deployed or trained forces in Somalia since 2006: Ethiopia, Kenya, the United States, Turkey, the UAE, Egypt, Eritrea and others, from the sources.
- Turkey's military in Somalia: Camp TURKSOM, drones and the sea pactTurkey's military role in Somalia since 2017: the TURKSOM base and the units it trains, armed drones and helicopters, the 2024 defence pact and navy, troop mandates, and the offshore oil link.