African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia at risk amid US funding cuts

The African Union called an emergency meeting on Friday about its military mission in Somalia after the United States said it would end critical funding from next year.

Washington said the decision was due the government’s lack of progress in containing the Islamist al-Shabaab group or in taking ownership of its own security functions.

Somalia has been battling the insurgency for around two decades but the al Qaeda-linked militants still control large swathes of the country.

The nearly 12,000-strong AU mission props up the fragile government in Mogadishu, helping it push back against the group whose previous offensives have brought it close to the capital.

Officials say the withdrawal of US funding via the United Nations will likely end operations of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia.

Washington also said it would also block any further UN logistical support to the mission at the Security Council.

Deeply fragmented Somalia is currently in the midst of another political crisis after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud changed the constitution earlier this year, extending his term in office by another year.

Opposition parties and regional governments rejected the changes, leading to violent clashes in several parts of the country, including the capital, Mogadishu.

Mohamud initially oversaw progress against Al-Shabaab with a successful large-scale offensive after he took office in 2022.

But much of the gains were later lost and the insurgency still has control of swathes of central and southern Somalia.

"Somalia forces were supposed to gradually take responsibility for security, but it's not happening. The political elite is too busy infighting," said Zekarias Beshah, an analyst with the Amani Africa think-tank in Ethiopia.

"One cannot rule out a major advance by al-Shabaab," he added.