Africaupdated 2h ago2 min read
MapUganda Begins Withdrawing UPDF Troops From Somalia After Nearly Two Decades
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First contingent of 109 UPDF personnel departed Mogadishu, marking the withdrawal start. Uganda began pulling out after nearly two decades of deployments in Somalia.
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UPDF starts phased pullout
Uganda began withdrawing its troops from Somalia after nearly two decades of military involvement, with the first contingent of 109 Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) troops reportedly leaving Mogadishu on Friday. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba said on X, "As we promised, we have started withdrawing UPDF from Somalia," and he added that Uganda was handing over security to Somali forces after "20 years of a lot of blood and sacrifice." Uganda’s withdrawal is being carried out in phases and is expected to be completed in August 2027, while Uganda is not ending its entire military involvement in Somalia.
Uganda’s acting army spokesperson, Chris Magezi, did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment. The BBC described Uganda as the first African country to deploy troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), established in 2007 to help protect the country’s transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants.
Numbers and arrangements diverge
Uganda’s army said it had embarked on the drawdown of troops deployed in Somalia under bilateral arrangements "effective immediately," and it stated that the UPDF would gradually withdraw all its forces in Somalia, including those deployed under the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) by the close of 2027. Uganda had 4,500-6,000 troops in Somalia as part of the latest African Union mission and a further 2,000-2,500 under a bilateral agreement. An estimated 4,500 troops were in Somalia under the Africa Union mission, alongside about 2,000 deployed through bilateral arrangements.
The BBC said Uganda’s troops continued under successive African Union missions, including the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis) and the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (Aussom), which began in 2025. Citizen Digital said the US withdrew funding in recent months to a United Nations logistics mission that the military coalition relies upon, and it linked that funding withdrawal to doubts about the future of international operations.
Security handover and funding stakes
Uganda’s army framed the withdrawal as a shift in responsibility, saying it would "mark the end of Uganda's enduring 20-year peace and stabilisation support operations in Somalia, permitting the Somali Armed Forces to assume full responsibility for security in the country." Somalia has been battling a prolonged and deadly insurgency led al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, for more than two decades, and Uganda’s earlier role drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu and other major towns. Aussom faces uncertainty over its future funding, amid plans to wind down US and UN support, and a 12-month transition plan is due to begin in January.
The African Union has authorised 4,500 Ugandan troops for AUSSOM, and the mission is expected to reduce its presence in phases with a final withdrawal envisaged by December 2029, subject to security conditions. The African Union Peace and Security Council has repeatedly warned that inadequate and unpredictable funding threatens the mission’s ability to operate effectively and has called for greater international support.