By Ebi Kesiena
After suffering “several significant setbacks” in its fight against Al-Shabaab militants, Somali authorities have requested a 90-day delay in the planned withdrawal of African Union troops.
A Somali government letter seen by the French news agency AFP, shows that the national security adviser wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of the African Union troop pullout.
The original plan was for the troops to leave by the end of September.
According to a diplomatic source, the letter is authentic, while another source close to the matter confirms the request.
“The Federal Government of Somalia formally requests a technical pause in the drawdown of the 3,000 African Union Transition in Somalia, ATMIS, uniformed personnel by three months,” read the letter.
UN resolutions call for the ATMIS force to withdraw by the end of next year, placing security operations in the hands of Somalia’s army and police.
The Horn of Africa country has been wracked by civil war and then a surge in violence by the al-Shabaab Islamist militants for more than 30 years.
