African Union says its 2nd phase of troop withdrawal from Somalia has begun

The second phase of the African Union troop withdrawal from Somalia has begun, under a timeline for the handover of security to the country’s authorities. The African Union troops are to fully hand over security to Somali forces at the end of 2024. The mission is targeting to pull out at least 3,000 more troops by the end of the month. In the first phase, some 2,000 AU troops from various member states left Somalia in June. On Sunday, the Burundian contingent handed over the Biyo Adde forward operating base in the south-central Hirshabelle state, near the capital of Mogadishu, to the Somali national army.