MOGADISHU (SD) -The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has advised the Security Council to preserve the current staffing level of AMISOM activities and obligations until the end of the year, according to a released press statement.

AMISOM’s mandate ends on March 31, 2022, but the United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on replacing the mission with the African Transition Mission in Somalia.

The AMISOM currently consists of 20,000 police, soldiers, and civilians assigned to support the government against the fight with Al-Shabaab militants.

In his letter to the Security Council, Guterres expressed that he preferred a plan that will gradually reduce ATMIS operation in the country, to support the Somali security task forces to smoothly take over the responsibility by the end of 2023.

“I appeal to the international community to continue their support by providing adequate resources to ATMIS and the Somali security forces, as well as through the provision of specialized capabilities,” Guterres reported.

Although AMISOM is financed by the UN and European Union, Guterres’s letter to the Security Council does not outline specific financing for ATMIS which is supposed to replace AMISOM.