Trump orders an almost total withdrawal of US troops from Somalia

Issued on: 05/12/2020 – 06:24

The United States has about 700 troops in Somalia focused on helping local forces defeat the Al Shabaab insurgency linked to Al Qaeda. The mission has received little attention in the United States, but it has been considered a cornerstone of the Pentagon’s global efforts to combat al Qaeda.

In a statement, the Pentagon tried to downplay the implications of a withdrawal that experts say could undermine security in Somalia.

“While it is a change in the posture of the force, this action is not a change in US policy,” the Pentagon said.

“The United States will retain the ability to conduct targeted counterterrorism operations in Somalia and collect early warnings and indicators on threats to the homeland.”

The United States already pulled out of the Somali cities of Bossaso and Galkayo earlier this year. Until last month, US troops were still in the port city of Kismayo, at the Baledogle air base in the Lower Shabelle region and in the capital, Mogadishu.

A US defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that almost all US forces would leave Somalia, although some would remain in Mogadishu.

The Pentagon statement, which was not signed, said that an unspecified number of forces in Somalia would move to neighboring countries, allowing them to carry out cross-border operations. Others would be reassigned out of East Africa.

A congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pullout comes at a difficult time for Somalia, ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections, and will present an early dilemma for President-elect Joe Biden.

Somalia has been divided by civil war since the early 1990s, but over the past decade an African Union-backed peacekeeping force and US troops have regained control of Mogadishu and large swaths of the country from al Shabaab.

‘Continuing security partnership’

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed appeared to be lobbying publicly against the reduction and wrote on Twitter in October that US support “has enabled us to effectively fight Al-Shabab and secure the Horn of Africa.”

“A victory along this journey and for the Somalia-US partnership can only be achieved through an ongoing security partnership and capacity development support,” he wrote.

Another US official said the US presence in Somalia was a point of contention between Trump and his former defense secretary, Mark Esper, whom Trump fired last month. According to the official, Trump pushed for a reduction citing Kenya’s desire to “police its own neighborhood,” but Esper resisted.

Kenya has supported the Somali government in several areas and contributes troops to the African Union-led force.

Al Shabaab, which has struggled for more than a decade to establish a government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, often carries out firearm attacks and bombardments against both military and civilian targets and has also attacked regional targets, especially in Kenya.

An attack on a US military base in Kenya killed three Americans earlier this year.

Many of the US forces in Somalia train and support Danab, the Somali special forces at the center of a mission to kill the leaders of Al Shabaab. Danab, which has around 850 troops but had planned to grow to around 3,000, has been Somalia’s most effective fighting force.

It is the third major withdrawal since Trump installed acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, a former Green Beret official and anti-terrorist, to replace Esper in the Pentagon following Trump’s electoral defeat.

The US defense official said the withdrawal was ordered to be completed on January 15, the same timeframes for reductions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(REUTERS)