UGANDAN TROOPS IN SOMALIA TO WITH DRAW

SOMALIA: UGANDA PLANS TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM SOMALIA

With Gerald Lumanyika, Dar-times.

Uganda’s military chief says the country plans to withdraw its troops from Somalia by December 2017.

Gen. Katumba Wamala told The Associated Press Friday that the Ugandan government believes it has achieved its goal of helping to stabilize Somalia.

Wamala said the decision to withdraw is also fueled by frustration with international partners, including the U.S. and the E.U., that he accused of not doing enough to train the Somali military.

More than 6,000 Ugandans are deployed in Somalia under an African Union mission that protects the Somali government from the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which opposes the presence of foreign troops in Somalia.

Although al-Shabab was ousted from the Somali capital Mogadishu in 2011, it continues to wage a deadly guerrilla campaign that includes suicide bombings.