UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) until May 31, 2018 and authorized a downsizing of troops.
The council decided to reduce the level of uniformed personnel to a maximum of 21,626 by the end of this year, with a further reduction of uniformed personnel to 20,626 by Oct. 30, 2018, unless the Security Council decides to accelerate the pace of the reduction.
The current maximum deployment level is 22,126 uniformed personnel, as set out in Resolution 2355.
"The long-term objective for Somalia, with the support of its international partners, is that Somali security forces assume full responsibility for Somalia's security," said the newly adopted resolution.
It noted that AMISOM remains critical to security during this transition. One of the strategic objectives of AMISOM is to enable the gradual handing over of security responsibilities from AMISOM to the Somali security forces contingent on abilities of the Somali security forces and political and security progress in Somalia, said the resolution.
