Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: THE United Nations Security Council on December 23 agreed to extend the mandate of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia for another year, taking it to the end of 2026.
Unanimously adopting a resolution, the Council authorized African Union members to continue to deploy up to 11,826 uniformed personnel, inclusive of 680 police personnel, to AUSSOM (African Union Support and Stabilization Mission) until that date. It emphasized that additional support to AUSSOM and the Somali Security Forces is necessary to enable Somalia to bolster its fight against Al-Shabaab and improve peace and security in the country and the region, and urged traditional and new donors to support by providing the necessary funding to AUSSOM.
“Somalia has made enormous progress since the Security Council first authorised the deployment of AMISOM in 2007,” the UK’s Ambassador to the UN said.
However, China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Sun Lei said, “At present, the funding gap facing AUSSOM is unsustainable and the liquidity shortfall confronting UNSOS raises our concern.”