African Union envoy welcomes Egyptian team assessing troop deployment in Somalia

Egypt prepares to join new African Union mission in Somalia after six-day assessment

What happened

In Mogadishu, on a humid Friday where the sea breeze barely cuts the dust, the African Union’s top envoy in Somalia closed the door on a week of quiet but significant diplomacy. Ambassador El Hadji Ibrahima Diene, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and head of the AU Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), met an Egyptian military team at the end of its six-day visit — a final check before Cairo commits troops to the AU’s next chapter in Somalia.

The delegation, led by Maj. Gen. Islam Aly Ibrahim Radwan, spent August 30 to September 5 reviewing logistics, coordination, and the operational picture for a planned Egyptian deployment to AUSSOM. Both sides called the visit constructive. Diene thanked Egypt for stepping forward, saying the move would bolster the AU’s capacity to stabilize a nation still battling insurgency and navigating a sensitive political transition. Radwan, in turn, signaled Egypt’s readiness to contribute meaningfully to the AU’s efforts on the ground.

Why it matters

This is more than another rotation of peacekeepers. It comes as Somalia and its partners negotiate a handover of security to Somali forces after years of AU-led operations that began with AMISOM, transitioned to ATMIS, and now stand on the threshold of AUSSOM. The path has never been straightforward. Al-Shabaab remains lethal and adaptive, seeking to exploit any vacuum as foreign troops scale back and local forces expand their remit.

Egypt’s potential deployment arrives at a time when AU planners are retooling the mission’s footprint and mandate to reflect hard-won lessons: the need for flexible forces, better intelligence, and tighter coordination with Somali units who will ultimately carry the burden of securing towns and supply routes. In practical terms, a fresh contingent brings manpower, equipment, and a signal to other capitals — African solutions to African challenges still have momentum.

The road from AMISOM to AUSSOM

The African Union has been on the Somali front line since 2007, when AMISOM’s arrival marked a turning point against Al-Shabaab’s grip on Mogadishu. Over the years, tens of thousands of African soldiers — from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, among others — pushed militants out of the capital and major urban centers. In 2022, AMISOM reconfigured into ATMIS, a transition mission with a clear mandate: phase down foreign troops while building up Somali security institutions.

The departing stages have been deliberate, sometimes halting. Several thousand AU troops have withdrawn in phases, even as Somali forces intensified operations in central regions with mixed results and heavy costs. The AU and the Somali government have both acknowledged the complexity of sequencing withdrawals with battlefield realities, budget constraints, and political timelines.

AUSSOM is the next step — a leaner, support-focused mission designed to plug gaps as Somali forces assume the lead. It is meant to prioritize enabling functions: mentoring, logistics, medical evacuation, and rapid reinforcement in crises. In that architecture, each new troop-contributing country matters, especially if it brings specialized capabilities that make Somali units more resilient and responsive.

What Egypt brings

Egypt has a long, if sometimes understated, track record in peacekeeping. Cairo has contributed personnel to UN missions in Africa and beyond — from South Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo — and prides itself on training and logistical expertise. As a major Arab and African power, its participation in AUSSOM would be a political signal too: a Northern African heavyweight investing in the stability of the Horn.

For Somalia’s government, courting a broader range of partners is strategic. A more diverse coalition can dilute the risks of overreliance on any single neighbor and can give Somali leaders diplomatic leverage as they shepherd a federal political settlement and push security reforms. It may also unlock additional support for critical enablers that don’t always make headlines but decide outcomes — engineers to fix roads gouged by the rains, medics to save wounded soldiers, and aircraft for swift casualty evacuation.

Regional currents

Nothing in the Horn of Africa happens in a vacuum. Egypt’s interest overlaps with wider regional currents: rivalry and cooperation around the Red Sea corridor, the persistent diplomatic turbulence with Ethiopia over Nile waters, and concerns that instability in Somalia can ripple outward across trade routes and migration paths. Careful diplomacy will be needed to ensure a new deployment stabilizes rather than stirs.

For the African Union, broadening the tent of troop contributors is part of an evolving approach to peace operations. Funding is tighter, international attention is fickle, and threats are asymmetric. The AU is increasingly advocating predictable financing and clearer mandates, while building missions that rely less on large infantry footprints and more on intelligence, mobility, and support to national forces. AUSSOM is meant to embody that shift.

The human ledger

Behind the acronyms and timelines are civilians watching and waiting. Markets in Baidoa and Beledweyne rise and fall with the security tide. Parents in Mogadishu’s camps debate whether it’s safe to send children back to school. Humanitarian agencies warn of recurrent droughts and floods compounding displacement. When foreign troops leave too quickly, fear creeps back into daily life; when they stay too long, frustration simmers about sovereignty and dependency. Getting the balance right is the test.

Somali officers, many trained with AU support, increasingly lead operations. Some talk about how a reliable medevac can decide whether a patrol pushes into contested territory or returns to base. Others point to the need for steady logistics — fuel, rations, spare parts — to hold liberated towns. If Egypt’s deployment shores up those basics, it could punch above its weight.

What to watch next

• Timing and scale: When will Egyptian troops arrive, how many, and with what specific role — infantry, logistics, medical, or engineering?
• Coordination with Somali forces: Will new arrivals embed advisors with Somali units or focus on enablers at the mission level?
• Mandate clarity and funding: How the AU and partners lock in predictable resources for AUSSOM will shape what’s possible on the ground.
• Security trends: Al-Shabaab’s reaction to any new deployment — and Somali forces’ ability to consolidate gains — will be the most telling measure.

The AU says it is committed to integrating the Egyptian contingent smoothly. For Cairo, the trip by Maj. Gen. Radwan’s team appears to have met its purpose: understanding the terrain, the needs, and the risks. The question now is whether a carefully choreographed handover in Somalia can turn paper plans into security that people can feel — in reopened roads, busier markets, and nights with fewer gunshots.

That is the yardstick by which any new mission, and any new flag on a soldier’s shoulder, will be judged.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.