AMISOM – Somalia

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) is a regional peacekeeping mission set up by the African Union, and supported by the United Nations. The first batch of peacekeepers deployed on 6th March, 2007 and currently over 10,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are operating in Mogadishu.

The principal aim of AMISOM was to provide support for Somalia’s Transitory Federal Institutions (TFI’s) in their stabilisation efforts and in the pursuit of political dialogue and of reconciliation. AMISOM is also mandated to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and to create the necessary conditions for reconciliation and sustainable development in Somalia.

In December 2010, Kate Holt was commissioned by the African Union Information Support Team (IST) to travel to Mogadishu and embed within the African Union Soldiers. She not only photographed the work of the soldiers – particularly their humanitarian agenda – but also trained six soldiers from both Uganda and Burundi on how to take photographs of their daily lives on the frontline.

Photographs taken by the soldiers, as well as Kate’s photographs, were exhibited in Nairobi, Kampala and Bujumbura in an exhibition entitled “Brothers in Arms.” Arete helped promote the exhibition through a series of articles and reviews.

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Photographic Exhibition

View the multimedia piece on the Economist

View the multimedia piece on the Guardian

Soldiers hold a discussion in front of the Aruba Hotel, now an AMISOM command centre, near Mogadishu Seaport. The continuing operation of the port is essential to the stabilisation of the city since most of the of humanitarian aid passes through it.

An AMISOM soldier helps carry a civilian casualty to a nearby aid post in the aftermath of a bomb blast in Mogadishu. © Emmanuel Mucunguzi

AMISOM soldiers haul their equipment (including bed rolls) to new positions on the frontline in Mogadishu. © Jean Claude Mbayisenga

An AMISOM soldier mans a gun position on the frontline in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu. © Jean Claude Mbayisenga

An empty road leading to the frontline in Mogadishu. Buildings along the route have been abandoned by civilians and are instead lived and fought in by AMISOM forces as they advance, building by building, street by street into al-Shabaab held areas.

A mother watches her child in the emergency medical centre in the Burundi Contingent Headquarters in the former University in Mogadishu. The child was burnt when the house they were sheltering in was bombed.

An AMISOM soldier walks passed a delivery of grains sacks at the port in Mogadishu, Somalia.

A child is treated for malnutrition at the medical centre established for the treatment of civilians in the Burundi Contingent Headquarters in the former University of Mogadishu.

Soldiers from Burundi working for AMISOM shoot from a rooftop position held by the Burundian contingent, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Soldiers from Burundi working for AMISOM load bullets from a rooftop position held by the Burundian contingent, in Mogadishu, Somalia.

A Burundian peace-keeper, injured in gun battle between African Union Soldiers and al-Shabaab insurgents, recovers in an emergency medical facility at the old Military Academy in Mogadishu.

Orange plastic shelters, used as temporary accommodation by displaced people, sprawl into the distance beneath the protecting body of an AMISOM machine-gun in the Badbado Camp in Mogadishu.

Families who have come to Mogadishu from areas of Somalia where a prelonged drought has affected them for nearly four years queue up in BadBadu camp for Internally Displaced People in Mogadishu, Somalia.

A soldier from Burundi rests on his bed in a bunker, while his colleague mans a gun position on the frontline in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu.

Women and children collect water delivered by Ugandan troops from the AMISOM mission to Mogadishu, Somalia.

An AMISOM doctor works in a temporary clinic set up to provide healthcare for defecting al-Shabaab fighters and their families. AMISOM medics provide one of the few sources of free medical assistance for Mogadishu's population, seeing over 2000 patients daily.

An AMISOM soldier keeps watch over the Old Seaport. Daily shipments bring in vehicles, foodstuffs and electronic goods to Mogadishu, and the revenue generated from port taxes is a significant source of income for the new government. AMISOM assists in securing the port.

AMISIOM soldiers walk through a house they have just taken from the control of al-Shabaab insurgents in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu, Somalia.

AMISOM soldiers stand next to their armored vehicles before heading out on patrol through the streets of Mogadishu. Soldiers patrol constantly as part of the AMISOM mandate to assist in the maintenance of peace and stability in government controlled areas of the city.

AU soldiers man their positions in a house they have just taken from the control of al-Shabaab insurgents in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu, Somalia.

Then-AMISOM Force Commander, Major General Nathan Mugisha, is shown changes to the frontline inside a building that has recently been captured from al-Shabaab in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu.

Women and children stand in a street recently seized by AMISOM troops from al-Shabaab in Sigaale District, Mogadishu. As progress on the frontline continued, AMISOM encouraged civilians to return home until areas had been cleared of booby traps and the areas secured.

Newly recruited Somali police officers demonstrate their drill for the Somali President and the AMISOM Force Commander at the airport in Mogadishu. Over 400 TFG police officers have so far been trained. © Stephen Mugabi

AMISOM soldiers advance on the frontline in the Sigaale District of Mogadishu, Somalia. The commander of the AMISOM forces, accompanied by the commander of the Ugandan Contingent, were making a tour of the frontline following heavy fighting the night before.

Burundian soldiers provide support from a rooftop position in Mogadishu, Somalia. AMISOM forces were providing fire support to the soldiers of Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and other Burundian soldiers as they seized control of key positions from al-Shabaab control.

Women wait with their children to see a doctor in the Outpatients Unit, run by AMISOM in the dilapidated Aruba Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia. AMISOM are the only organisation running an Outatients unit in this area of Mogadishu and are are seeing over 2000 patients a week.

Ugandan Marines launch their boat in the sea near Mogadishu Airport. AMISOM forces patrol the shoreline every time a flight is due to land as well as securing the Mogadishu coastline against pirate or insurgent attacks from the sea.