U.S. troop withdrawal is seen as badly timed

NAIROBI, KENYA >> Somalis fear a U.S. decision to withdraw troops from their country will be seen as a victory for al- Qaida-linked militants who have wreaked havoc there for years and will sow the potential for more chaos at an especially delicate moment for Somalia and the region.

Somali presidential elections are scheduled in just two months, war is erupting in neighboring Ethiopia and the militants, from al-shabab, are still strong despite years of U.s.-led raids and drone strikes.

The timing of Friday’s Pentagon announcement, some Somalis say, is terrible.

“The fight against global terrorism is still ongoing, and we must still win the battle for peace and security to prevail,” said Ayub Ismail Yusuf, a Somali senator, who called the U. S. decision “untimely” on Twitter. “We must not give up on our successes.”

The Pentagon said it will “reposition” some of the estimated 700 U. S. troops in Somalia to other parts of East Africa — likely Kenya and Djibouti — and continue to carry out raids against al- Shabab and a smaller cluster of Islamic State group fighters in northern Somalia from bases in neighboring countries.

Drone strikes, which have killed numerous senior and midlevel al- Shabab commanders as well as dozens of civilians, will continue.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia did not immediately react to the U. S. decision, announced late Friday as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to end what he calls America’s endless wars before leaving office Jan. 20. Whether fears over the withdrawal, which is expected by mid-january, are fully merited is not yet clear.

What seems certain, though, is that the brunt of the changes will be borne by Danab, an elite Somali force that the U. S. military took under its wing after its formation in 2013.

Since then, U. S. soldiers have trained and armed the Somali commandos, whose numbers have grown to about 1,000, and often have accompanied them on raids against al-shabab.

Now Danab will be largely on its own.

Col. A hmed Abdulla hi Sheikh, who commanded Danab from 2016 to 2019, said he expected the United States to continue funding and arming the elite force.

But t he cr ucia l U. S. “a dvise- and- assist” role — Americans helping Somali officers plan raids and accompanying them into firefights — will not be easily replaced, the colonel said.