African Union holds emergency meeting over U.S. decision to end support for Somalia mission
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The African Union moved quickly on Friday to confront a major blow to its Somalia operation, calling an emergency meeting after the United States said it would withdraw support for the U.N. office that provides vital logistical backing to African troops in the country.
Military and defense officials from member states of the African Union Peace and Security Council gathered at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa to weigh the consequences of Washington’s decision to halt support for the U.N. Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) once the mandate of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) runs out on Dec. 31, 2026.
In a document cited by the African Union, the U.S. Mission to the African Union officially informed the bloc on July 1 that Washington would no longer support UNSOS, the U.N. mechanism that supplies logistical and operational assistance to AUSSOM.
UNSOS underpins the mission’s day-to-day work, providing air transport, engineering help, medical care, equipment and other logistical services to African Union forces deployed in Somalia.
African Union officials said the move could sharply weaken AUSSOM’s ability to operate, strain its logistics and deepen financing pressures at a moment when the mission remains a key part of the campaign against al-Shabab and Somalia’s broader security transition.
The emergency session, called under a notice dated July 2, centered on how the U.S. decision could affect the mission and what immediate steps might ease the anticipated funding gap and operational strain.
Delegates from Peace and Security Council member states, including Somalia, Uganda, South Africa and Algeria, examined possible ways to limit the fallout from the funding cut on security in Somalia and across the wider Horn of Africa.
The United States has stood by its decision, arguing that after nearly 20 years of international backing, Somalia has still not done enough to defeat al-Shabab and has not yet taken full responsibility for its own security.
Washington said it has provided nearly $2 billion to African Union missions in Somalia since 2007, in addition to $1.6 billion in bilateral support to troop-contributing countries. It also said it has delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to Somalia’s security forces, along with billions more in humanitarian and development aid.
The African Union did not announce any final outcome from Friday’s meeting, but officials discussed the next steps needed to preserve support for AUSSOM as concerns mount over how the mission will be financed going forward.
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