Somalia Security Mission Steps Up Training as AUSSOM Pushes Stabilisation Efforts
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The Arab Post
- . September 17, 2026
- . Update: September 17, 2026 5:42 pm
Somalia’s security mission is putting more effort into training than ever this year. AUSSOM Somalia training, The push comes even as the mission itself struggles to stay funded.
Troops serving under the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, known as AUSSOM, began a two-week training course at Force Headquarters in Mogadishu this month. The course focuses on psychological and integrated influence operations, and is being run by instructors from the United States Joint Special Operations Task Force. The goal is straightforward. Build AUSSOM’s ability to counter Al-Shabaab propaganda and hostile narratives circulating across Somalia.
Training The Trainers
Mogadishu is not the only city seeing new programmes. Somalia’s Minister of Internal Security, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, launched a 10-day training programme for Somali Police Force instructors at the General Kaahiye Police Training Academy, funded by the Government of Japan and run by AUSSOM Police. The aim is to strengthen the instructors themselves, improving the quality of police training across the country and reinforcing public safety more broadly.
That effort builds on a broader initiative. In March, the Federal Government of Somalia and AUSSOM launched the Joint Stabilisation and Capacity Support Programme in Mogadishu, also backed by Japanese funding, designed to strengthen institutional readiness and support infrastructure development for the Somali Police Force and the Ministry of Internal Security.
What AUSSOM Actually Is
AUSSOM took over from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia at the start of 2025, tasked with supporting Somali security forces as they push back Al-Shabaab and gradually take over security responsibilities themselves. The mission’s Concept of Operations envisions a full drawdown of AU troops by December 2029, with the pace determined by regular joint assessments of Somalia’s security situation on the ground.
The Money Problem Behind The Mission
Training programmes are moving forward, but AUSSOM’s underlying finances remain shaky. The mission’s budget for the year running through June 2026 sits at roughly $190 million, on top of unpaid liabilities inherited from its predecessor mission, including outstanding troop allowances. Troops have reportedly gone extended periods without stipends, a gap that risks hurting morale and pushing troop-contributing countries to informally subsidise the mission themselves. The European Union has signalled it may cover up to 85 per cent of troop stipends, though how sustainable that commitment will be over time remains uncertain.
Logistics support has taken a hit too. The UN support office backing AUSSOM absorbed a 25 per cent budget cut, roughly $130 million, which is expected to strain aviation support, equipment management, and broader force sustainment going forward.
Training As A Long-Term Strategy
Despite the financial strain, officials on the ground describe the training push as central to the mission’s actual goal, handing security responsibility back to Somali forces rather than extending AUSSOM’s presence indefinitely. As one police trainer working in Kismayo put it, the effort reflects “a broader African commitment to peace, cooperation and rebuilding societies affected by conflict.”
What Comes Next – AUSSOM Somalia training
AUSSOM’s strategy increasingly rests on capacity building rather than raw troop numbers, betting that better-trained Somali police and security forces can hold ground once AU troops eventually withdraw. Whether that bet pays off will depend on two things moving in tandem. Somalia’s security forces absorbing the training fast enough, and international donors keeping the mission funded long enough to see that transition through.
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