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KAMPALA, 7 November 2026 Uganda said on Friday its troops had begun leaving Mogadishu and surrounding areas, ending a 20-year mission in Somalia.
Uganda was the first country to deploy troops to the African Union mission in Somalia in 2007 and has been one of its largest troop contributors.
“We also wish to take note of the fact that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces have started leaving Somalia. They are withdrawing from Mogadishu and surrounding areas, and this ends a 20-year mission,” Alan Kasujja, executive director of the Uganda Media Centre, said.
He said the mission reflected Uganda’s “Pan–African obligation” to help secure a country that had been “extremely turbulent.”
“We have lost brothers and sisters in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, and we salute those who gave their lives for the safety and the transformation that we are continuing to see in Somalia,” Kasujja said.
Somalia said the troops being redeployed were serving under a bilateral arrangement and were not part of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).
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National Security Adviser Awes Hagi Yusuf said on Tuesday the redeployment “should not be misconstrued as a complete withdrawal” of Ugandan military personnel from Somalia.
He said Uganda’s AUSSOM contingent remains in the country and continues to work alongside other partner forces and the Somali National Army.
He made the remarks at a tripartite meeting at Villa Somalia with AUSSOM and the U.N. Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), attended by AUSSOM Force Commander Lieutenant General Sam Kavuma.
Uganda’s army announced on Nov. 2 that the withdrawal had taken immediate effect. Acting army spokesman Colonel Chris Magezi said all Ugandan forces in Somalia, including those serving with AUSSOM, would leave by the end of 2027.
The pullout comes as Somalia says its forces can increasingly take over responsibility for security in the fight against al-Shabaab.