Somalia dismisses reports of ATMIS term extension

Responding to an article by the Kenyan East African Newspaper which revealed that Somalia aims for a term extension for the African union transition mission, Somalia said it only focuses on handover of security responsibility from ATMIS.

Somalia’s presidential advisor on security Hussein Sheikh Ali has dismissed the media report in a twitter post that the Horn of African nation was seeking an extended stay of the African Union troops and referred to it as ‘false reporting.’

The East African had reported on Sunday that Mogadishu has ‘launched a shuttle diplomacy to lobby the international community and influential leaders in the region to agree to the extension.’

It added that the proposal to extend ATMIS stay band “has been mooted” but there is nothing concrete yet as the idea is “still in the corridors” of the Federal Government of Somalia leaders and some other stakeholders that Mogadishu has reached out to.

ATMIS is expected to end its two year mandate in Somalia on December 31, 2024.