Decline in military Ops gives Al-Shabaab chance to rise attacks

AFRICOM – the U.S. Africa command has now few soldiers present in Somalia who are protecting the American interest and its embassy in Mogadishu after more than 700 troops were pulled out last year.

News Keydmedia Online
16 January 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The dramatic decline in the military operations in Somalia has given the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group access to double its terrorist attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.

Since the U.S. military troops withdrew from Somalia in early 2021, the group has carried out deadly car bombings in the capital, Mogadishu which left dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded.

The American-trained elite SNA force known as [Danab] conducted no single counter-terrorism raid in the country for one year due to the absence of their AFRICOM air support, according to the sources.

Al-Shabaab has been facing pressure from the U.S. military after top leaders were killed in drone strikes in the group’s strongholds in Somalia. Washington has been a key partner in the war on the militants.

AFRICOM – the U.S. Africa command has now few soldiers present in Somalia who are protecting the American interest and its embassy in Mogadishu after more than 700 troops were pulled out last year.

Al-Shabaab sees the withdrawal of Americans as an opportunity to make a back with the group regained control of key areas in the Mudug region and some near the capital following attacks on Somali army bases.

Somalia is facing uncertainty about security as the AU forces who have been fighting against Al-Shabaab since 2007 have three months left for their exit from the country amid the Al-Shabaab threat.

The African Union’s peace and security proposed last year to turn AU troops into a hybrid AU-UN mission. However, the proposal was turned down by the Somali government, says SNA to fill the vacuum.

KEYDMEDIA English