The US Africa Command Chief General Stephen Townsend visited Somalia and pledged to support the new President in fighting and defeating terrorist groups. The AFRICOM boss pledged to support the administration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to fight the extremist terrorist groups that continue to destabilize the Horn of Africa nation.
The United States has been a key ally of Somalia in security matters. Terrorist groups, the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab and the Islamic States affiliate in Somalia continue to wage attacks, ranging from small to large scale attacks. The steady rise in terrorist operations recently prompted Pentagon to make a decision to redeploy about 500 US Special Forces back to the war-torn country.
Latest reports indicate that on Monday 16th, President Joe Biden authorized the deployment about 500 troops to the East African country battling with rising extremist insurgency. The troops will establish a small presence in Somalia in an attempt to better target the extremist groups, especially Al-Shabaab and its leaders and that of the group’s senior commanders/leaders.
On May 21, General Townsend held talks with President Hassan who defeated President Farmajo in the recently concluded elections. The discussion centered around working and strengthening the Somali National Army (SNA) which is still undergoing rebuilding after decades of struggle. The AFRICOM boss also lauded Somalia for conducting the elections despite numerous challenges of terrorist attacks.
The redeployment of Special Forces by the United States back to Somalia is seen as a critical boost towards defeating terrorism citing the troops has previously worked closely with the local army including by training the Danab Elite Forces, a contingent within the Somali National Army functionary in the fight against Al-Shabaab terrorists.
For the last year, most of the US Africa Command troops have been commuting to Somalia from the neighboring Djibouti and Kenya after they were repositioned following an executive order by former President Donald Trump.
Besides training the Danab Elite Forces, the US military is also critical in providing aerial surveillance to ground troops fighting Al-Shabaab militants. The aerial airstrikes have previously helped to disrupt and also destroy key Al-Shabaab infrastructure (camps and equipment) besides killing top group’s commanders. The return of US Special Forces to Somalia will boost operations against the extremist militant groups in a quest to stabilize the war-torn country.
