BY RUTH TENE NATSA IN MOGADISHU-SOMALIA – The Acting Commander, African Union Transition Mission (ATMIS) Major General Marius Ngendabanka has informed of the mission’s readiness to hand over security responsibilities to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) by December 2024.
This was as he disclosed that the Al-Shabaab which had since 2006, killed thousands, in its fight to overthrow the Somalia’s Western-backed Central Government and implement its interpretation of Islamic law, has remained a dominant enemy of Somalia and the Horn of Africa region.
The ATMIS which replaces the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), became operational on April 1, 2022, with a clear mandate to fully implement the Somali Transition Plan (STP).
General Ngendabanka told a select team of Journalists from Nigeria and Ghana, at the ATMIS Headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia on Monday, September 11, 2023, that the Mission is committed to the implementation of its mandate to support the FGS as they prepare to take over security responsibilities by the end of December, 2024.
According to General Ngendabanka, the aim of the briefing was to inform stakeholders like the people of Somalia, the UN, AU and the International community of the need for efforts to be increased to generate more forces to fight Al-Shabaab in order to get Somalia properly back in place.
In his words; “ATMIS is a multinational mission deployed in Somalia since 2007 which draws its mandate from African Union Peace and Security Council Communique 1068 (2022) and joint Federal Government of Somalia/ATMIS CONOPs 22/24, UNSCR 2628(2022), UNSCR 2670( 2022) and the most current UNSCR 2687(2023) to support FGS-led operations in order to degrade Alshabaab and other armed opposition groups(AOGs) and prepare for the smooth handover of security responsibilities to SSF by December 31, 2024”.
While stating that the mandate of the mission are all anchored to the revised Somalia Transition Plan (STP), 2022, General Ngendabanka revealed that the mission is deployed in 6 sectors supported by senior staff officers from several African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Benin, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Estwatini, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Acting Commander of ATMIS said their mandates include eliminating and/or reducing the threats posed by Al-Shabaab, supporting the capacity building of the integrated Somalia Security Forces (SSF), conducting a phased handover of security responsibilities to SSF and supporting peace and reconciliation efforts in Somalia.
Speaking on the security situation at present, General Ngendabanka revealed that while Al-Shabaab has remained the dominant enemy of Somalia and the Horn of Africa region, it had withdrawn from most major towns and cities to villages and small towns across the ATMIS AOR.
He also said that their strongholds are still in the Jubba Valley, Bay, Bakool and Gedonregions of Somalia as these regions were yet to be cleared of the terrorists, adding that the Al-Shabaab has an active force estimated between 12000-15000 militants operating in AoR.
General Ngendabanka further informed that the tactical modus operandi of Al-Shabaab is still to avoid force-on-force combat with Friendly Forces (FF) in favour of complex attacks often employing a combination of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), small-scale raids, ambushes and close-quarter assassinations against government personnel and other individuals challenging their authority, largely employing asymmetrical warfare tactics operating in small units of less than 20 fighters and can increase numbers to conduct major attacks.
Speaking on the achievements of the mission, the Acting Commander said as of March 2023, the ATMIS had registered several achievements that included; maintaining the gains made over the years by not losing any territory to AS across all sectors, continuing to maintain active joint operations cells (JOCs), consulted several operations with SSF partners aimed at degrading AS across various ATMIS sectors as well as continue to conduct civic activities across sectors in support of the vulnerable population.
General Ngendabanka further said that the Mission has secured key supply routes including areas recovered from AS for use by various stakeholders like civilians and humanitarian agencies, while SSF has been maintained and effected through joint ops planning and coordination as well as colocation in most of the sectors.
Other achievements recorded he said include, ATMIS effectively providing security to humanitarian convoys travelling to and from vulnerable areas as well as UN staff and other officials, improved SNAs capacity to conduct counter IED operations as well as installations like the ports of Mogadishu and Kismayo, Villa Somalia, Parliament and Key government installations among others.
While recognising the support of international communities in the struggle of ATMIS, the acting Commander noted that they were still challenged in the area of logistics, particularly in the areas of arms, ammunition and personnel, which he said has been too slow.
The Nigeria Formed Police Unit (NFPU), serving under the ATMIS has 160 Police officers, including 25 women, led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammed Ibrahim.
