Highlight
African troops under the umbrella of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will stay put in Somalia to oversee an inclusive, realistic and legitimate electoral process by next year, 2016.
Analysis
The UN Security Council towards end of July, 2015 re-authorized the extension the mandate of AMISOM in terror plagued Somalia until May 30, 2016.
This is to ensure that all strategies planned by the African forces in Somalia to completely bring Al Shabaab terror group to their knees are fully implemented. The 15-nations council also unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) until March 30, 2016 to support the political process in the country.
On its own the Somali government cannot shake off the notorious terrorists belonging to Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen until a much stable government is in place. The terrorists are out to displace the government and impose their own strict system of Sharia laws to the civilians.
Al-Shabaab has in the recent past launched a series of counter-offensive on areas held by Somali government troops, and they were able to overrun some of these areas including Ceel Muslim and CeelCaad. This was after the militants were pushed from their major operational bases by the AMISOM troops.
Forecast
The Somali National Government is still heavily dependent on AMISOM presence in Somalia as Al Shabaab continues its bid to topple the government. With its presence, AMISOM is likely to ensure that the government conducts peaceful electoral process so that they carry survive on their own when troops eventually withdraw.
