NAIROBI: The African Union called an emergency meeting on its military mission in Somalia after Washington announced it would end critical funding over the lack of progress against violent extremists.
Somalia has been battling the Al-Shabab insurgency for around two decades, but the group still controls vast swaths of the country.
The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, AUSSOM, is the leading force supporting the Somali army, providing roughly 12,000 troops.
Somalia has been battling the Al-Shabab insurgency for around two decades, but the group still controls vast swaths of the country.
But in a letter to the AU dated July 1, Washington said it was ending payments to the UN Support Office in Somalia or UNSOS, which provides the bulk of funding to AUSSOM, at the end of this year.
