BURUNDI OPPOSES CALLS BY THE AFRICAN UNION TO WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM SOMALIA

Burundi has opposed calls by the African Union (AU) to scale back its troops in Somalia serving as part of the African peacekeeping mission.

Instead, Burundi is asking the AU to task other African nations with withdrawing a proportionate number of soldiers….

Burundi army spokesman Colonel Flourier Biyereke on Sunday said that the military would ask the government to argue for a proportionate number of troops be withdrawn from each AU member country, rather than solely Burundian soldiers.

The African Union asked the government of Burundi to withdraw its over 5000 troops in Somalia by the end of Februry next year ahead of AMISOM exit in 2020.

The country which is the second country to deploy troops into Somalia dispatched its first soldiers to Somalia in December 2007.

Last year, the Burundian government threatened to withdraw its troops from Somalia following the failure to pay Burundian peacekeepers’ salaries for 12 months.

The salary arrears issue was however solved following the visit of Commissioner for Peace and Security for the African Union (AU)

AMISOM has more than 22,000 soldiers and police, from six African countries, deployed in Somalia to protect the government there and fight Al-Shabaab fighters.