Uganda's defense minister said Friday its troops would remain in Somalia, despite growing uncertainty over the future of the African Union mission, under a pre-existing bilateral agreement.

Uganda deployed 4,500 troops in the Horn of Africa country under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), and a further 2,000 under a bilateral agreement.

Washington's July 2026 announcement to block funding for the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) past December 31, 2026, directly threatens the logistical foundation of AUSSOM.

Mogadishu and Kampala signed a bilateral agreement at the end of 2024 over the deployment of an unspecified number of Ugandan army troops from 2025.

Defense ministers from the countries that make up AUSSOM — Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and the new comer Egypt — have stressed the need for an "orderly, coordinated" exit of the AU mission in order to hand over to Somali forces.

It comes as deeply fragmented Somalia faces yet another political crisis, after President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's decision to change the constitution in March ahead of planned elections.