African Union Mission to Somalia

African Union Mission in Somalia
Participant in the Somali Civil War
Map of Somalia within the African Union
Active	February 2007 – present (10 years, 1 month and 2 weeks)
Leaders	Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira (Mission Head) Lt. Gen. Osman Noor Soubagleh (Force Commander)
Headquarters	Mogadishu
Area of operations	Central and southern Somalia
Strength	Approx. 22,000
Originated as	IGASOM
Allies	Federal government of Somalia Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a Raskamboni movement
Opponents	Faiza Hersi al-Shabaab ARS (dis) Hizbul Islam (dis) Al-Qaeda
Website	amisom-au.org

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia. It is mandated to support transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the Somali security forces, and to assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. As part of its duties, AMISOM also supports the Federal Government of Somalia's forces in their battle against Al-Shabaab militants.

AMISOM was created by the African Union's Peace and Security Council on 19 January 2007 with an initial six-month mandate. On 21 February 2007 the United Nations Security Council approved the mission's mandate. Subsequent six-monthly renewals of AMISOM's mandate by the African Union Peace and Security Council have also been authorised by the United Nations Security Council.

The duration of AMISOM's mandate has been extended in each period that it has been up for review, lastly in October 2014. The current mandate expires on 30 November 2015. Until that time its maximum allowed strength is 22,126 troops.

In August 2014, the Somali government assisted by AMISOM launched Operation Indian Ocean to clean up the remaining Al-Shabaab-held pockets in the countryside.

AMISOM replaced and subsumed the IGAD Peace Support Mission in Somalia (IGASOM), which was a proposed Intergovernmental Authority on Development protection and training mission to Somalia approved by the African Union on September 14, 2006. IGASOM was also approved by the United Nations Security Council on December 6, 2006.

IGASOM was originally proposed for immediate implementation in March 2005 to provide peacekeeping forces for the latest phase of the Somali Civil War.