Somalia

U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a Defense Department plan to redeploy American troops to Somalia to shore up counterterrorism efforts against one of ...

Biden’s decision will send several hundred U.S. special operators back into Somalia to help the fragile Somali federal government fight off the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group. Biden’s decision will send several hundred U.S. special operators back into Somalia to help the fragile Somali federal government fight off the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab terrorist group. It was also responsible for a 2020 attack on a U.S. air base in Manda Bay, Kenya, that killed three Americans. The senior official said “under 500” U.S. troops would be redeployed to Somalia under the new plan but did not give additional details on the troops being deployed, citing security. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Sunday was officially named president, defeating incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmaajo, in three rounds of parliamentary voting. The United States had about 750 troops in Somalia until Trump ordered the withdrawal that took place just days before Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. Biden has authorized at least five drone strikes against al-Shabab since he took office. The decision largely reverses former President Donald Trump’s directive to withdraw some 750 U.S. troops from the East African country shortly before leaving office in January 2021, as part of his broader efforts to draw down the U.S. military’s presence abroad. The decision largely reverses former President Donald Trump’s directive to withdraw some 750 U.S. troops from the East African country shortly before leaving office in January 2021, as part of his broader efforts to draw down the U.S. military’s presence abroad. U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a Defense Department plan to redeploy American troops to Somalia to shore up counterterrorism efforts against one of Africa’s deadliest and most powerful militant groups. A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity in a briefing to reporters under ground rules set by the White House, characterized Trump’s directive as “an abrupt and sudden transition to a rotational presence” that allowed the al-Shabab terrorist group to gain further strength and step up attacks against the Somali government and civilian targets in recent years. U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a Defense Department plan to redeploy American troops to Somalia to shore up counterterrorism efforts against one of Africa’s deadliest and most powerful militant groups.

Newly elected Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud waves after he was sworn-in, in the capital Mogadishu, on May 15, 2022. Hasan Ali Elmi—AFP/Getty Images.

The militant group has long exploited the political instability and stalemate to strengthen its grip on the country. “Only calling them a terrorist actor and confining them to military action is not really appropriate,” he says. In terms of outside support for Somalia, Mahmood says the international community should focus on the nation’s political instability, which is exactly what al-Shabab exploits. In 2020, the president of neighboring Djibouti, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, expressed concern that the militant group would use its influence to buy seats in Somalia’s parliament. According to the U.N., almost 900,000 people who face food shortages live in areas administered by al-Shabab and are unreachable by aid organizations. Sunday’s election was delayed by 15 months as Farmaajo launched in April 2021 a widely-condemned bid to extend his five-year term by another two years, prompting political infighting and violent clashes that brought the country to a political standstill. But Mahmood points out that, even when faced with significant U.S. military presence and an air strike program in previous years, al-Shabab thrived, and Somali civilians were caught in the crossfire. Key to Mohamud’s success as president will be his ability to unite rival political forces, according to Omar Mahmood, senior Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank. Newly elected Mohamud is the first Somali president to win a second term—albeit, five years after his first. The system—which makes it particularly difficult for young people and women to climb the political ranks—is vulnerable to manipulation by rival groups and lacks democratic accountability. The sole female candidate in the race, former foreign minister Fawzia Yusuf Adam, was eliminated in the first round of voting. Elections in the east African nation—which have for decades been marred by violence— exclude the majority of the country’s 15 million people.

The U.S, military presence in Somalia, numbering about 500, will be focused on al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate considered the terrorist network's most ...

In that time, al-Shabab has reportedly made territorial gains against African Union peacekeeping forces — one of the entities U.S. military personnel will be tasked with supporting. A decade ago, al-Shabab militants appeared poised to seize Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, before African Union forces stepped in and the United States escalated airstrikes. At least two other Americans were wounded in the incident. U.S. defense officials say the group is one of al-Qaeda’s biggest moneymakers, extracting funds from companies and civilians trapped within its sphere of influence. A similar surge in fatalities is expected if nothing changes, the researchers assess — a level of death stemming from al-Shabab’s aggression that Somalia has not endured since 2017. Their primary focus will be al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate considered the terrorist network’s most lethal and well-funded operation. The last known U.S. military casualty in Somalia occurred in 2017, when a Navy SEAL was killed during a raid alongside Somali partner forces. The lack of a permanent U.S. military presence in Somalia has allowed al-Shabab to grow stronger and increase “the tempo of its attacks, including against U.S. personnel,” the senior administration official said, noting that sending American troops back “rationalizes what was essentially an irrational arrangement we inherited.” Fighters have staged thousands of attacks in Somalia and neighboring Kenya, including the 2013 raid on a Nairobi mall that left 67 people dead and the 2017 truck bombings in Mogadishu that claimed more than 500 lives. The group has since pushed to conquer the East African nation and enact a strict interpretation of Islamic law. “Our forces are not now nor will they be directly engaged in combat operations,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. “The purpose here is to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabab by local forces.” The pattern of popping in to conduct limited operations, he added, “was inefficient and increasingly unsustainable.” Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of U.S. Africa Command, warned lawmakers earlier this year that the U.S. withdrawal from Somalia had hampered the military’s ability to suppress the threat there, saying that undertaking so-called “over the horizon” strikes launched from a permanent base in neighboring Djibouti was akin to “commuting to work.”