Egypt is preparing to station troops near Mogadishu under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), but neither Cairo nor Mogadishu has announced when the main force will arrive.
Egyptian advisers, trainers and technical officers are reportedly readying a site at Ceelcade, near the former Cisiley airfield in the Middle Shabelle region. The site sits just north of Mogadishu’s administrative boundary and, about 400 kilometres from the nearest point on the Ethiopian border.
An Egyptian military delegation met Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi in Mogadishu on 20 Sep. Five days earlier, Egyptian officers had met senior Somali commanders to discuss training and capacity-building for the Somali National Army.
The groundwork is not new. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and General Abdel-Magid Saqr, Egypt’s commander-in-chief and defence minister, attended a lineup of Egyptian troops assigned to AUSSOM on 11 Feb 2026, according to Egypt’s military spokesperson. Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa, the Egyptian chief of staff, also attended. Officials were briefed on the preparation and equipping of the units, and a display of vehicles was part of the programme.
The force and the delay
Egypt’s planned contribution is 1,091 troops in the AU force structure, according to UN planning documents cited by Somali media. That compares with 4,500 from Uganda, 2,500 from Ethiopia, 1,520 from Djibouti and 1,410 from Kenya. Egyptian troops are meant to replace Burundian forces, who have been allowed to stay until relief arrives.
Some reports describe the Egyptian contingent as already in place with about 1,100 personnel. The 1,091 number is a planned allocation, and Somali officials still described the main deployment as pending in September. Reports of equipment, including Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, helicopters and surveillance aircraft, come from press accounts and have not been itemised by either government.
Somalia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohamed Omar, known as Ali Balcad, addressed the delay on 1 Sep. “The problem is not Egypt’s political commitment or lack of readiness,” he told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. He pointed to AU and United Nations procedures, troop rotation, logistics and unsettled funding for the mission.
The funding problem is real. AUSSOM has operated under financial pressure since it began in January 2025, and the UN logistics office that feeds, fuels and moves its troops depends on donor money. A May 2026 report by The Reporter, an Ethiopian outlet, said the AU Peace and Security Council extended the mission to December 2026.
The timetable has slipped more than once. In September 2025, a 16-member Egyptian delegation led by Major General Islam Radwan surveyed sites in Mogadishu. AU sources then said Egypt planned up to 1,100 troops at three bases in Middle Shabelle, with full deployment expected by the end of 2025. That did not happen.
Why Cairo wants a foothold
Egypt and Somalia signed a military cooperation protocol in August 2024. Cairo then flew and shipped arms to Mogadishu, and announced in December 2024 that it would join AUSSOM. The AU council later approved the request, making Egypt a first-time troop contributor to the mission. Reports also describe Egyptian help to rebuild the Somali Air Force.
Later on, in September 2024 again, Somalia received one of the largest modern arms shipments from its ally, Egypt. An Egyptian warship delivered a substantial cache of weaponry, including anti-aircraft guns and artillery, to Somalia’s port, according to port and military officials. This marked the second major arms delivery from Egypt to Somalia that year, reflecting the growing military cooperation between the two nations. The strengthening of ties is largely driven by their shared mistrust of Ethiopia.
AUSSOM began on 1 Jan 2025 under UN Security Council Resolution 2767, replacing the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). Its mandate covers support for offensive operations, protection of civilians and humanitarian access. Egypt’s entry changes its makeup, since earlier AU missions drew troops from Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti and Uganda.
Egypt has delivered more than words. Its arms shipments to Mogadishu have included anti-aircraft guns and artillery. Those deliveries began in 2024 and ended a gap of roughly four decades in Egyptian military aid to Somalia.
Egyptian officials treat Somalia as part of their security perimeter. Lieutenant General Khaled Okasha, an Egyptian security expert, described Somalia as Egypt’s “strategic depth” in comments carried by Hiiraan Online. “Somalia’s disintegration would threaten Red Sea and Suez Canal navigation,” he said. Roughly speaking, instability on the Somali coast reaches the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and, beyond it, the southern entrance to the Suez Canal.
Ethiopia reads the move differently. Addis Ababa and Cairo are at odds over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile and over Ethiopia’s push for Red Sea access. Ethiopia’s ambassador to Somalia, Suleiman Dedefo, said last year that Ethiopia is “neither threatened nor comfortable” with Egyptian troops in Somalia.
The picture is further complicated by Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December 2025. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud called the decision a serious violation of Somali sovereignty.
What it means on the ground
Any Egyptian contingent will operate against al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked group that still controls territory and can strike government forces and civilians. Somali analyst Hassan Muhammad said the group “constitutes one of the most outstanding security challenges facing the government now.” Egyptian troops in fixed bases would also become obvious targets, a risk that analysts cited, reporting raise alongside fears of a proxy contest with Ethiopia.
The siting matters politically as well. A base north of Mogadishu keeps Egyptian forces far from the Ethiopian frontier, where earlier reports had placed them. That placement is consistent with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s September 2025 statement that Egyptian troops would work in Middle Shabelle under the AU mission.
The next markers are plain. Watch for an announced arrival date, confirmation that the Ceelcade site is operating, and a funding arrangement that lets the AU rotate out the Burundian contingent.