Rhino: Agencies – The United Nations Security Council on Friday approved a resolution to deploy a new African Union mission to Somalia that will replace the bloc’s larger counter-terrorism operation as of January 1, 2025. The new force is known as the African Union Mission for the Support and Stabilization of Somalia (AMISOM).

External resources have supported Somalia’s security since Ethiopia invaded the country in 2006, overthrowing an Islamist-led administration but spurring an insurgency that has since killed tens of thousands of people.

Sources told Reuters in June that the European Union and the United States, the biggest funders of AU forces in Somalia, wanted to reduce the number of AU peacekeepers due to concerns about funding and long-term sustainability. Negotiations on the new force have been complicated, they said.

The U.S. abstained from voting in the Security Council on Friday due to concerns about funding. The remaining 14 council members voted in favor of the resolution.