MOGADISHU (SD) -Burundi has accused Somalia of betrayal and ingratitude after being excluded from the list of countries allowed to send troops for the new African Union mission for peace restoration in Somalia.

This new mission, known as AUSSOM, will begin in January 2025, replacing the previous mission in Somalia, ATMIS, which is scheduled to end on the 31st of this month.

Burundi was among the countries with a significant number of troops in ATMIS, but its troops will not participate in the new mission due to a conflict with Somalia regarding the number of troops Burundi wanted to send.

Burundi requested to send an additional 2,000 troops to Somalia, but Somalia only agreed to 1,041, leading to Burundi’s withdrawal from AUSSOM.

A senior official from Burundi told Uganda’s ChimpReports newspaper that Somalia betrayed them.

He said: “We have seen betrayal and ingratitude from Somalia, despite the great sacrifices we made in the fight against Al-Shabaab.”

He added that Somalia’s decision to request a smaller number of troops was seen as a threat to the effective operations of Burundi’s forces.

Burundi has been the second-largest contributor to the peacekeeping forces in Somalia since 2007. Its troops have played a role in liberating many parts of Mogadishu that were occupied by Al-Shabaab, including the headquarters of the Somali Ministry of Defense.