The UNTMIS closure in Somalia is set for Oct. 31, when the UN Transitional Assistance Mission is due to end, and it has not been made public how much of its work has been handed over.
The Security Council decided in December 2025 that the mission, known as UNTMIS, will cease all operations as of that date, according to Shabelle Media Network, via AllAfrica. The report did not give the resolution number.
As of Oct. 25, no extension and no recent UN or Security Council update had been announced.
How the mission was set up
The Security Council adopted resolution 2753 unanimously on Oct. 30, 2024. It created UNTMIS to succeed the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, and the two-year transition began on Nov. 1, 2024, Security Council Report and the mission said.
The resolution set two phases. Phase one ran to Oct. 31, 2025, with tasks passing to the federal government and other stakeholders. Remaining tasks were to be handed over by the end of phase two, from November 2025 to October 2026.
The 2024 text expressed only the Council’s intention, informed by conditions on the ground, to end the transition by Oct. 31, 2026. Its priorities included constitutional review and elections, human rights and donor coordination.
UNTMIS closure timeline
The table lists the key dates and the source for each.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 30, 2024 | Council adopts resolution 2753 unanimously | Security Council Report |
| Nov. 1, 2024 | Two-year transition begins | UNTMIS |
| Oct. 31, 2025 | End of phase one | Security Council Report |
| Nov. 30, 2025 | Hero Drogo facility handed to Galmudug | UNTMIS |
| Dec. 23, 2025 (a Tuesday, per the Dec. 24 report) | Council votes 15-0 to renew AUSSOM; UNTMIS to cease operations | Shabelle via AllAfrica |
| Oct. 31, 2026 | UNTMIS due to cease all operations | Shabelle via AllAfrica |
| Dec. 31, 2026 | End of AUSSOM’s renewed mandate | Shabelle via AllAfrica |
What has been handed over
The only handover reported so far is a building. On Nov. 30, 2025, the UN gave its Hero Drogo facility in Dhusamareb to the Galmudug state government, the mission said. The site has space for about 50 people, generators, water purification and a helipad, and UNSOS was to train Galmudug technicians until the end of 2025.
James Swan, the special representative at the time, linked the change of plans to the UN’s finances.
“We have had to change plans due to the United Nations’ financial situation.”
James Swan, UN Special Representative, UNTMISThe mission’s page said the UN faces a worsening global cash crisis from a shortfall in member-state contributions, with spending cuts, a hiring freeze and reduced services.
What the mission and the government have said
The closure is at the request of Somalia’s federal government, the mission’s pages said. Security Council Report said Somalia’s 2024 proposal asked for a two-year phased handover.
The mission’s site says the transition is condition-based and the Council reviews progress regularly. A Transition Planning Cell with three work streams plans the handover and coordinates with AUSSOM. The aim is for national institutions and existing UN development programmes to take over all functions by Oct. 31.
Dawan Africa reported on Sept. 8 that State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohamed Omar met a UN delegation led by Raisedon Zenenga, officer-in-charge of UNTMIS, and Vikram Parekh, chief of the political and mediation group. They agreed to keep close coordination. The ministry gave no timetable for the remaining transition activities.
In an opinion piece on Oct. 20, Mohamed Idle wrote in Dawan Africa that Somalia and the UN agreed Somalia takes full responsibility for human rights and civilian protection by October 2026. That is the author’s account alone.
The Council’s AUSSOM decision
The December vote was 15-0 on a UK-submitted text that renewed AUSSOM for one year, to Dec. 31, 2026, Shabelle reported. The UK’s Archie Young said the resolution acknowledged AUSSOM’s underfunding and the liquidity shortfall of UNSOS, the UN support office, and “creates a process to enable an informed review of the logistical support provided by the UN”.
Our explainer on the Ethiopia-Eritrea tensions noted a Bloomberg report, relayed by Garowe Online, that Ethiopia plans to withdraw more than 3,000 troops from Somalia “in the coming days or weeks”. Ethiopia has not publicly confirmed it, and the explainer said it is unclear whether the report covers AUSSOM, bilateral deployments or both.
What remains unclear
Six days before the date, five questions remain open.
No list of completed tasks has been published. Staff numbers and the UN entities that will stay after Oct. 31 have not been announced. Swan was the special representative in November 2025, and Dawan Africa called Zenenga officer-in-charge in September. The change has not been explained. It has not been announced what happens to UN support for AUSSOM after Oct. 31. No budget figures have been released.
Elections are among the priorities the 2024 resolution named. Our earlier report on Somalia’s 2027 election mandate dispute noted that UNTMIS said the talks ended without resolving key disputes.
What happens next
Oct. 31: the date UNTMIS is due to cease all operations (Shabelle via AllAfrica). Any Council or UN statement on the remaining UN presence in Somalia, which had not been issued as of Oct. 25. The review of UN logistical support created in December. No date for it was found (Shabelle via AllAfrica). Dec. 31: the end of AUSSOM’s renewed mandate (Shabelle via AllAfrica).
