Uganda has started withdrawing its soldiers from Somalia, ending nearly two decades as the backbone of the African Union's fight against Al-Shabaab, in a move with direct security implications for Kenya.

Uganda's Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba announced the start of the pullout on Thursday. "As we promised, we have started withdrawing UPDF from Somalia," he wrote on X, adding that after 20 years of "blood and sacrifice" Uganda was handing over security to Somali forces, Garowe Online and Uganda's Daily Monitor reported.

The Somali Guardian reported that the first group of 109 Ugandan soldiers flew out of Mogadishu on Friday aboard a Kenya-registered aircraft chartered by Kampala.

Museveni turns down Somali request

According to the Somali Guardian, President Yoweri Museveni told Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who visited Uganda on Monday, that part of the force would leave before November 15, turning down a request to delay the drawdown. Handover of forward operating bases to the Somali army is expected to continue into early November.

Ugandan troops are mainly deployed in Lower Shabelle, a region considered crucial to the security of Mogadishu. Uganda was the first country to send troops to the AU mission in 2007, and has kept both soldiers under the AU mission, now called AUSSOM, and a separate force under a bilateral deal with Mogadishu.

Muhoozi had earlier said there would be no Ugandan troops in Somalia after August 1, 2027.

Money problems behind the exit

The withdrawal comes as the mission faces a serious funding squeeze. The Daily Monitor reported that the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), which supplies food, fuel, medical services and transport to AU troops, cut its funding by 25 per cent, and that the United States told the AU in July it would not back renewal of the mission's mandate at the UN Security Council in December.

At a summit of troop-contributing countries in July, Museveni said: "If the international community wants to pull out, let them."

Why it matters for Kenya

Kenya is one of the main troop contributors to the AU mission, with Kenya Defence Forces soldiers deployed in southern Somalia since 2011, mainly in Jubaland, which borders Garissa, Lamu and Wajir counties.

Security analysts have warned that a thinner AU presence could give Al-Shabaab room to regroup, raising pressure on Nairobi to either expand its own role or plan its exit. The funding cuts behind Kampala's decision also affect Kenyan troops, who rely on the same UN logistics support.

The UN has also just closed its political mission in Somalia after more than three decades, handing its work to UN agencies and Somali institutions, Eastleigh Voice reported.

Kenyan officials had not publicly commented on the Ugandan withdrawal by Saturday evening.

Photos: Garowe Online/ATMIS; AMISOM Photo/Omar Abdisalan via Wikimedia Commons (CC0). Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.