The United Nations Security Council is expected to lift the arms ban on Somalia next month, according to media reports citing the country's President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud.
"We had five national targets this year including liberating the country from al-Shabaab*, removal of the arms embargo, admission to the East African Community (EAC) and debt relief and the arms embargo will be lifted earlier next month," the leader was quoted by the media as saying on Saturday.
On Friday, Somalia, struggling with al-Shabaab uprising, became the eighth member of the EAC (East African Community).
The UN arms ban on the East African country, imposed in 1992, has been extended until December 1, 2023, in response to the ongoing activities of the al-Shabaab* terrorist group.
Since the mid-2000s, Somalia has been dealing with the armed insurgency of the al-Shabaab group, which has also affected neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia. In 2007, the United Nations Security Council mandated the African Union (AU) mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to counter the insurgency.
Last April, following the corresponding UN resolution, AMISOM was replaced by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), with the goal of transferring security responsibilities in agreed areas to Somali security forces.
In June, ATMIS, completed the first phase of the transition, withdrawing around 2,000 peacekeepers and handed over about six bases. Another 3,000 troops were due to be revoked by the end of September, however, the Somali authorities asked the UN to postpone the second phase of the withdrawal for 90 days.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other states.