Biden sending hundreds of U.S. troops to Somalia
President Joe Biden has approved the deployment of hundreds of Special Operations troops to Somalia, officials announced Monday, reversing his predecessor’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the violence-stricken country — a move that complicated efforts to combat a regional terrorist group.
Biden’s directive was made in response to a request from the Defense Department to reestablish a base of operations in Somalia, which the administration is referring to as a “small, persistent U.S. military presence.” The size of that force will number fewer than 500, down from the approximately 750 personnel operating there before President Donald Trump ordered their removal in January 2021.
A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said the deployment will draw from forces already in the region. Their primary focus will be alShabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate considered the terrorist network’s most lethal and wellfunded operation.
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.”
Biden’s decision to resume the deployments was first reported Monday by the New York Times.
“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.”
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.”
Attacks by al-Shabab rose by 17% in 2021 compared with the previous year, according to a January analysis from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington. This year, they are projected to rise by 71% if the current pace of violence continues. 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.