KAMPALA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- leaders of countries contributing troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will meet in Kampala to discuss the process of handing over security responsibilities to the Somalia National Security Forces.
A statement released by Uganda's ministry of foreign affairs on Monday said the meeting will be convened by President Yoweri Museveni and will be attended by "representatives of the African Union Commission, UN Secretariat, the European Union Commission, Regional & Sub-Regional organizations, and representatives of the Five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council".
"The Summit is being convened within the framework of conclusions of the September 2017 meeting hosted in New York by President Yoweri Museveni on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. The New York Summit was called to exchange views on the situation in Somalia," the statement signed by the ministry spokesperson, Alfred Nnam, said.
AMISOM was created by the African Union's Peace and Security Council in 2007 with an initial six month mandate on a peacekeeping mission. The aim of the peacekeeping mission was to support a national reconciliation congress. Later, the mandate was extended as terrorists loyal to Al-Shabaab continued attacking different countries in the east African region, with strong bases in Somalia.
In November, AMISOM announced that it would withdraw 1,000 of the 22,000 fighters from the Horn of Africa nation and that all foreign peacekeepers would have withdrawn by the end of 2020.
Countries which contribute peacekeepers to AMISOM include Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
