Uganda begins withdrawing troops from Somalia after 20 years
The country was the first to contribute troops to the AU mission established to stabilise Somalia in 2007.
Uganda has begun withdrawing its troops from Somalia after nearly two decades of military involvement in the country.
The first contingent of 109 Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) troops reportedly left the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday, following an announcement by Uganda's army chief, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Uganda was the first African country to deploy troops to Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), which was established in 2007 to help protect the country's transitional government from attacks by Islamist militants.
Somalia has been battling a prolonged and deadly insurgency led al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, for more than two decades.