Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia, with the first batch of soldiers already returning home as the country moves towards ending its 20-year military presence in the East African nation.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) announced this in a statement issued in Kampala on Monday, November 2, 2026, and signed by the Acting Director of Defence Public Information, Colonel Chris Magezi.

The military disclosed that the withdrawal of troops deployed under bilateral security arrangements with the Federal Government of Somalia had taken effect immediately.

“The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has embarked on the drawdown of troops deployed in Somalia under bilateral arrangements with the Federal Government effective immediately,” the statement said.

It further confirmed that the first group of soldiers had arrived in Uganda, adding that the withdrawal of personnel under the bilateral arrangement would be completed within the next few days.

The UPDF also announced that it would withdraw all its remaining troops in Somalia, including those serving under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), by the end of 2027.

According to the statement, the decision would bring Uganda’s longstanding peacekeeping and stabilisation operations in Somalia to an end, allowing the Somali Armed Forces to take full responsibility for securing the country.

Uganda became the first country to deploy troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in March 2007.

The deployment was part of a broader international effort to support the Somali government in its fight against al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group that has waged an insurgency against the government for nearly two decades.

Since the initial deployment, Uganda has remained a major contributor to successive African Union-led security missions in Somalia.

AMISOM was replaced by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in April 2022, before AUSSOM took over in January 2025.

The planned withdrawal by the end of 2027 is expected to mark a significant turning point in Somalia’s security transition, with the country's national forces set to assume greater responsibility for maintaining peace and combating insurgency.