Somalia

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has signed a controversial law extending his mandate for another two years, despite threats of sanctions from the international community.

The UN and international partners working to support a lasting peace and democratic election process across Somalia, said on Sunday that they were highly concerned by the current situation there, calling on Somali leaders to “prioritize the national interest” and resolve their political impasse.

The militant group al-Shabab has launched attacks on Somali military forces in Lower Shabelle region, Somali regional officials said. The attacks in the early hours of Saturday, around 4 a.m. local time, targeted military bases in the towns of Barire and Awdhegle in southern Somalia.

Somalia’s government says it is making a commitment to conduct delayed presidential and parliamentary polls after the U.S. urged the leadership to hold transparent elections. On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said leaders should set aside “narrow political objectives” and “uphold their responsibilities to the people of Somalia.” 

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The Security Council announced today its adoption of a resolution reauthorizing the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until 31 December and maintaining its overall 19,626 uniformed personnel level ahead of the phased handover of responsibilities to Somali security forces, planned for later in 2021.

The political impasse over when and how the next Somalian election will be conducted, coupled with the increasing number of attacks from the Islamist terrorist group, al-Shabaab, has put Somalia on an unpredictable path.

The mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) has been extended by two weeks from end of February to March 14 as the country’s leaders push for a political deal.

[…] This crisis in Somalia is unfolding at the same time that AMISOM’s mandate is up for renewal on 25 February 2021 in the United Nations Security Council. The mission was scheduled to either leave or reconfigure itself by the end of 2021.

“Growing political tensions threaten Somalia’s State-building progress and even security”, Special Representative and Head of the UN Assistance Mission (UNSOM) James Swan said via videoconference. “I urge all of Somalia’s political leaders to pull back from confrontation and avoid risky winner-take-all tactics”, he underscored.