UN Authorises New Mission against Al-Shabaab in Somalia

The UN security council adopted a resolution on Friday allowing the deployment of up to 12,626 personnel to support the Somali government’s nearly two decades-long fight against al-Shabaab. The existing peacekeeping force, known as the African Union transition mission in Somalia (Atmis), whose mandate ends at the end of this year, will be replaced by the leaner African Union support and stabilization mission in Somalia (Aussom). The two peacekeeping forces were preceded by the African Union mission in Somalia (Amisom), which was the largest, longest running and deadliest such mission in history…Burundi, one of the troop contributing countries, announced that it would not take part in the upcoming peacekeeping mission due to a “lack of consensus” between Burundi and Somalia on the number of troops it would be allowed to deploy…It wasn’t clear if Ethiopia, which has been a major contributor to the two past iterations of the peacekeeping forces and is also a target of al-Shabaab, would be allowed to continue to play a role. Somalia and Ethiopia have been embroiled in a year-long dispute over a sea access deal that landlocked Ethiopia reached with the separatist northern Somaliland region. (The Guardian)