The AU confirms the death of at least 3,500 soldiers from its mission in Somalia since 2007

The figures are the first given by the agency since its deployment to combat the terrorist group Al Shabaab

12 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The African Union (AU) has estimated at around 3,500 the number of soldiers from its mission in Somalia killed since 2007 in fighting with Al Shabaab, at a time when the country’s authorities have increased operations against the terrorist group, linked to Al Qaeda.

The special representative of the AU Commission for Somalia, Mohamed el Amine Souef, has indicated in statements given to the US radio station Voice of America that “the troops were not well prepared and the Administration was not even in Mogadishu”.

“Many cases were not properly documented,” he pointed out, before confirming that “the mission has documented some 4,000 victims.” However, she has reported that “according to officers who served in the mission, the casualties, including the maimed, could be greater than 5,000.”

Souef’s words are the first from a senior AU official on the number of casualties suffered by his mission in Somalia, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), which replaced the African Union Mission in 2022. African in Somalia (AMISOM).

For his part, Hussein Sheikh Ali, National Security Adviser to the Somali Presidency, stressed that “the Somali people are indebted” to the AU mission. “In Somalia, in areas where the Somali government operates, in territories where progress has been made, they have been released and protected along with them and they have lost many people,” he acknowledged.

“We are grateful, but we want to repay them with a successful mission. That is why the Somali forces are fighting to eliminate Al Shabaab,” he concluded. AU troops helped the army drive the group out of Mogadishu in July 2011, although the terrorist organization still controls territories in the south and center of the country.

Somalia has increased offensives against Al Shabaab in recent months with the support of clans and local militias as part of a series of decisions taken by the president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who promised upon taking office to put the fight against terrorism at the center of his efforts to stabilize the African country.