The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has on Monday 16th May 2011 relocated its civilian international staff and police officers to Mogadishu, Somalia.

The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra said with the deployment of these civilian personnel and police officers including the Deputy SRCC, Honourable Wafula Wamunyinyi, AMISOM’s deployment in Mogadishu is now fully reflective of its multi-dimensional nature as a modern Peace Support Operation.

“In this regard, the civilian and police components will enhance their support to, and compliment, the efforts of the military component in achieving the broad political, security and developmental objectives of the African Union in Somalia.” said Ambassador Diarra.

In particular, Ambassador Diarra said the civilian component is expected to provide, more closely, support to the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) in carrying out their mandate and in providing services to the Somali population.

Over the past months, troops of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia with the support of AMISOM have pushed Armed Opposition Groups out of key strategic positions hence improving the security situation in Mogadishu.

The civilian international staff and police officers who have been operating from Nairobi since 2008 due to security concerns will continue to deploy to Mogadishu in phases as the security situation continues to improve.