Some 5,000-strong AU troops, mainly from Uganda and Burundi are the only foreign force in the war-torn deployed in March 2007 as part of UN-backed efforts to stabilize the war-torn country and shore up the fragile internationally recognised Somali government.

Speaking in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya on Wednesday, outgoing AU Special Envoy to Somalia Nicholas Bwakira said Uganda has lost 37 troops while Burundi has had 43 of its soldiers killed, mainly in roadside bomb explosions.

The envoy has also revealed that the peacekeepers have not received their dues for more than seven months, putting the blame solely on the donors who had only released 30 percent of the funds they pledged in Brussels early this year.

“No country would keep its forces without payment. No democracy would do that,” he said, adding that it would have ‘a very bad impact on the morale of the troops and that of the government concerned.’

In April, world pledged over $250m in support of an expanded AU peacekeeping operation and payment of Somalia’s security forces.

The peacekeepers, which are restricted in guarding strategic locations in Mogadishu, come under constant attack from militants bent on toppling fragile UN-backed Somali government.