Ugandan military has not confirmed why troops are leaving immediately. Already, 109 soldiers have withdrawn from Mogadishu
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Uganda has announced that all its troops will leave Somalia by the end of 2027, ending a 20-year deployment.
‘The first cohort of troops under the phased withdrawal operation have already arrived back in Uganda,’ said the Ugandan military in a statement.
According to local media, 109 Ugandan soldiers left Mogadishu on Friday (30 October). Although the Ugandan military did not say why it was withdrawing troops, some speculate it could be due to funding shortages.
UN agencies will remain in the country, and a separate UN office will provide supplies, transport, and support to African Union troops and Somali security units.
Troops were first sent to Somalia back in 2007 to support the Somali government against Al-Shabab Islamist militants under an African Union mission known as the AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). The mission has around 4,500 troops in Somalia, plus a further 2,000 deployed through bilateral arrangements.
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Peacekeepers are set to replace departing troops at four bases, Sabid-Anole, Bariire, Awdheegle and Bulonagad, according to a letter from the African Union mission to the UN support office in Somalia, obtained by The Associated Press. The letter describes these locations as critical to protecting Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.
Ugandan forces have played a critical role in preventing militants from overtaking the capital and major towns, fighting alongside the Somali National Army. Still, Al-Shabab Islamist militants have recaptured territory in recent years, particularly in the centre and south of the nation.
Back in August, Uganda’s parliament approved plans to deploy troops to Gaza as part of a force led by a US-backed mission. The nation did not specify how many troops it would deploy. Ugandan troops sent to Gaza would join a 20,000-strong force proposed by Trump’s Board of Peace earlier this year, led by American Major General Jasper Jeffers.
In 2025, a UN inquiry found that Uganda had helped South Sudan carry out airstrikes which killed and badly burned civilians, involving widespread use of ‘improvised incendiary devices’. Uganda denied participating in combat operations in South Sudan, denying using ‘chemical weapons and barrel bombs’ and attacking civilians.
