The drawdown of African peacekeepers from Somalia has stalled

No peacekeeping missionAUAUAUUNATMIS anywhere has been as deadly, nor has any African-led one lasted as long. After almost 17 years of trying to stabilise Somalia and , at a loss of perhaps 3,500 peacekeepers, the next phase in winding down the almost 18,000-strong African Union () force had been greeted with high hopes. Yet plans to withdraw 3,000 troops at the end of September have just been shelved, has learned. This is because of concerns that Somalia’s army will be unable to hold territory that had previously been recaptured from , a jihadist group that America’s military command for Africa has termed “the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world”.On September 30th the agreed to pause the drawdown for three months after a last-minute plea from Somalia’s government, according to several people in the know. A statement may be released within days, possibly after a meeting between officials from the and the Security Council: an extension needs the approval of the council, which had previously said that the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia () should number no more than 14,626 from October and be completely withdrawn by the end of 2024. (In the first phase of the drawdown 2,000 went home in June.)