The African Union (AU) has announced that up to 1,000 of its soldiers will leave Somalia by the end of this year.
The decision to downscale the AU security mission, also referred to as Amisom, comes in the wake of two major bomb attacks in Mogadishu last month which together left at least 370 dead.
Soliders from Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Djibouti make up the 22,000-strong Amisom force fighting al-Shabab militants.
Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira, the AU representative to Somalia, has sought to reassure, saying:
We're going to work side-by-side with the government to defeat al-Shabab on all fronts...
Even if tomorrow you see some other bombs blasting here in Mogadishu don't worry... this is going to be stopped."
Our colleague Abdi Nassesr Ahmed told Focus on Africa a short while ago that Amisom's announcement "might be part of an exit strategy which many think is overdue", noting that the force was first deployed exactly 10 years ago.
Amisom troops have also complained of a 20% cut in funding in recent times.
Despite the Somali national army's lack of training and equipment, Abdi adds, it could be a morale boost to for them to take up more responsibility in the fight against al-Shabab - as well as a chance to prove their commitment by preventing a security vacuum.
"Maybe they will receive the funds that have been going to Amisom until now", he says.
