US to end funding to UN Support Office in Somalia

Somalian army special commando unit (DANAB) marches in Mogadishu. (AFP file photo)

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Updated 03 July 2026 22:45

AFP

July 03, 2026 22:39

NAIROBI: The African Union called an emergency meeting on its military mission in Somalia after Washington announced it would end critical funding over the lack of progress against violent extremists. Somalia has been battling the Al-Shabab insurgency for around two decades, but the group still controls vast swaths of the country. The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, AUSSOM, is the leading force supporting the Somali army, providing roughly 12,000 troops.

BACKGROUND

Somalia has been battling the Al-Shabab insurgency for around two decades, but the group still controls vast swaths of the country.

But in a letter to the AU dated July 1, Washington said it was ending payments to the UN Support Office in Somalia or UNSOS, which provides the bulk of funding to AUSSOM, at the end of this year. The letter was confirmed by a senior African diplomat to the AU, who said the decision was “irreversible” and the mission is “finished.” The AU Commission has convened an “emergency meeting on the future of AUSSOM.” “Without UN logistics, which were funded by the US ... we will have to draw a line under our mission in Somalia,” the diplomat said. In the July 1 letter, Washington said it would also block any further UN logistical support to AUSSOM at the Security Council. The US has provided nearly $2 billion to UN missions in Somalia since 2007, and more than $1.6 billion to African troops deployed there, as well as “hundreds of millions to Somali security forces, and billions more in humanitarian and development assistance,” it said. The letter accused Somalia’s government of failing to “sustain progress against Al-Shabab, take ownership of its security functions, or undertake serious security sector reform,” blaming “internal rivalries and political infighting.” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had the constitution changed earlier this year, extending his term by a year after it expired on May 15. Opposition parties and regional governments rejected the changes, leading to violent clashes in several parts of the country, including Mogadishu. Mohamud oversaw progress against Al-Shabab, culminating in 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 swaths of central and southern Somalia.

Topics:USUNSomalia