The African Union has asked Burundi to reduce its contribution to an African peacekeeping force in Somalia by a thousand men under a progressive pull-out from the country by the AU.
The AU made the request through a diplomatic document called a note verbale, requesting that the reduction be completed by February 28.
The AU has a 21,500-strong force, Amisom, to support Somalia’s fragile internationally-backed government and fight Shabaab jihadists blamed for scores of bloody attacks.
The force is to be gradually scaled back as Somalia’s embryonic armed forces are trained up and deployed to replace them.
The note verbale, seen by AFP Friday, summarises the conclusions of a November 30 meeting of Amisom’s military operations coordination committee in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
“It has been decided that the Burundi National Defence Force should reduce (its contingent by) 1,000 troops by February 28,” the document says, quoting a United Nations Security Council resolution seeking UN funds to help Amisom’s pull-out.”
Somalia has the second-largest contingent in Amisom with 5400 troops, after Uganda, which has 6200 men.
Other contributors are Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.
The note verbale takes place against a background of recent tension between Burundi and the AU.
