Somalia

Insecurity persists in Somalia, with extremist group Al-Shabaab and fighting in the Laascaanood region taking a heavy toll on civilians, the UN envoy for the country told the Security Council on Thursday.

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The head of the African Union Mission in Somalia has called for international support for Somali government forces who are battling the al-Shabab militant group on multiple fronts in the country. Mohamed El-Amine Souef says the Somali army needs not just training but weapons, equipment and skills for the officers, and lifting the arms embargo so that the country can buy weapons.

The Somali government on Wednesday said government troops have killed hundreds of militants during military operations in the last two months.

Eleven Somali government soldiers were killed and three others injured in a roadside explosion Monday in the southwestern Gedo region, officials said, as the African Union peacekeeping force began a second round of troop withdrawals. … The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the roadside explosion.

The European Union's executive said on Tuesday that disbursements of humanitarian aid in Somalia were "temporarily suspended" after a United Nations probe found widespread theft and misuse of support meant to avert famine.

The tactic gives local community fighters the lead role in the fight against al-Shabab with federal government forces playing a supportive role, said two senior government officials who did not want to be identified. … [T]he federal government will register the local fighters and pay monthly stipends as an incentive for their participation, with a view to integrating them into the army in the longer term.

Tight deadlines mean assessment of the ATMIS (African Union Transition Mission in Somalia) first troop drawdown phase is running concurrently with planning for the second to bring mission strength down to 14 600. … The next drawdown will see three thousand troops exit the mission by 30 September.

According to the government, the ban on TikTok, Telegram and 1XBet comes in response to growing concerns over their potential negative effects on the younger generation. 

Military chiefs of troop contributing countries for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) say they are on course to continue their gradual withdrawal of forces, signalling a handover of security duties to Mogadishu as planned.