Thomas Waldhauser, the U.S.’s top commander in Africa, has acknowledged that the US military’s presence has increased by more than 1000 troops in the past year. He said that on any given day the total American force rounded out to roughly 7,500 troops, including 1,000 contractors. In 2017, the U.S had roughly 6,000 troops in Africa on a given day, according to AFRICOM.
AFRICOM has outposts in East and West Africa which is an indicator of the commitment of the US in the war against terror in the African continent. The US forces have over 4000 servicemen, and women in the East African region mainly focused on the conflict in Somalia caused by al Shabaab militants. The rest in West Africa fighting various ISIS affiliates in the Sahel and Maghreb, Boko Haram and al Qaeda.
The US has reaffirmed its commitment to fighting terrorism in the African continent.
