- Prior to Trump’s withdrawal in December 2020, the U.S. forces had been there to help in the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked al Shabab
- The insurgent group has sought to topple the government and establish its own Sharia rule in Somalia
- The new deployment and stepped-up aggression stands in contrast to his move to pull the remaining 2,500 troops out of Afghanistan last year, at which point he declared: ‘It’s time to end the war on terror.’
- In addition, Biden signed off on a Pentagon request to go on the offensive and target about a dozen suspected al Shabab leaders
- An official declined to say how many troops would move into the country but said that it would be under 500
Biden signed off on a plan to redeploy several hundred troops to Somalia, reversing an order from President Trump that withdrew the 750 troops that had been stationed there to fight terrorism.
Prior to Trump’s withdrawal in December 2020, which thereafter allowed U.S. troops into the country only on a short rotational basis, the U.S. forces had been there to help in the fight against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab, an insurgent group that has sought to topple the government and establish its own Sharia rule in Somalia.
In addition, Biden signed off on a Pentagon request to go on the offensive and target about a dozen suspected al-Shabab leaders, according to the New York Times. Since Biden took office, U.S. forces have limited attacks to airstrikes that were meant to defend allied forces facing an immediate threat.
The new deployment and stepped-up aggression in Somalia revives the decades-old war on terror and stands in contrast to his move to pull the remaining 2,500 troops out of Afghanistan last year, at which point he declared: ‘It’s time to end the war on terror.’
However, the administration official stressed that the troops would be moved from the Africa region, not deployed from the homeland, and would amount to ‘roughly the same resource and personnel commitment in that region.’
Biden signed on to the redeployment in early May.
A senior administration official told reporters on a call that the Biden administration is changing its posture to a ‘small, persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia.’
‘We have seen regrettably, clear evidence of Shabab has intent and capability to target Americans in the region,’ the official said, adding that the group has killed more than a dozen Americans in east Africa.
The official declined to say how many troops would move into the country but said it would be under 500. The official said that Trump’s withdrawal amounted to an ‘abrupt and sudden transition to rotational presence’ and said it was ‘against the senior advice of U.S. military leadership.’
‘The rotational presence created a very real force protection risk,’ the official said.
Somalia has faced bloody conflict at home with no strong central government for three decades since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The U.S. has fought Islamic extremists in the country since the George W. Bush administration.