Somalia is facing a dilemma over plans to continue a drawdown of peacekeepers from the country by a deadline of the end of 2024 because it's not known whether the country's poorly equipped security forces can put down al-Shabab militants' security threat to the government by that time.
Hussein Sheikh Ali, national security adviser for Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, wrote to the United Nations requesting a 90-day delay in the second phase of the departure of African Union Transition troops in Somalia.
A diplomatic source in the government who requested anonymity because of a lack of authority to comment on the issue confirmed to VOA the authenticity of the letter. The source said the government wants to buy time for its effort to have an arms embargo lifted -- a campaign supported by Ethiopia and Uganda, two regional powers.
The Somali government had repeatedly said it would be ready to take over security responsibilities from ATMIS when those troops withdrew from the country, in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 2687. The government military gains, however, did not prevent the militant group from waging deadly counterattacks on government bases."Several significant setbacks" have occurred since late August, the letter said, following a deadly dawn attack by the militants on a newly captured base in the village of Cowsweyne, Galguduud region, in central Somalia.
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