US plans to send special operations forces to Somalia

The American forces were pulled out of the country under the executive order of Donald Trump, former US president before he left the White House last January. 

News Keydmedia Online
16 June 2021

WASHINGTON, US - The United States Department of Defense is working on a proposal to send dozens of special forces back to Somalia to resume the counter-terrorism operations.

The Pentagon said the American troops will train, advise and assist Somali forces in abid to build their capacity and be able to fight against Al-Shabaab as the AU troops who are preparing to withdraw from the country by the end of 2021.

The New York Times reported that the plan to re-deploy American soldiers to Somalia hasn’t yet been formally presented to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and not clear whether President Joe Biden would approve such a move.

If endorsed, the NYT says the decision will reverse former President Donald Trump’s abrupt pullout of nearly all 700 American troops from the Horn of Africa country in January 2021 shortly before he left the office.

The US military has still a small number of soldiers on the ground who are protecting the American diplomats in Mogadishu and drone base in Beleddogle, where AFRICOM-trained Danab special forces are based.

Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda's most powerful ally in East Africa has intensified attacks in Somalia targeting military bases and government buildings in the capital after the US airstrikes were suspended and the American troops repositioned to Kenya and Djibouti.

KEYDMEDIA English