EGYPT has offered to deploy peacekeeping troops in Somalia as the mandate of an African Union force winds down.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi attended a summit on Thursday in the Eritrean capital Asmara, where he and the leaders of Somalia and Eritrea pledged strong co-operation on regional security.

Somali authorities said in a statement at the end of the summit that they welcomed Egypt’s offer to deploy troops in their country as part of a stabilisation force when the present African Union force disbands in December.