In the fight against Islamist al-Shabab militants, the United States has again deployed hundreds of troops in the East African crisis-stricken country of Somalia. An official in Washington said today that US President Joe Biden has endorsed the Department of Defense’s request to re-establish a “small permanent troop presence” in the country. The plan is to send “less than 500” American troops already stationed in East Africa.
Trump ended US military presence
Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of most U.S. troops stationed in Somalia by the end of 2020 in the last weeks of his tenure. As a result, about 750 American soldiers fled the country. As a result, the U.S. military continued to fight al-Shabab and train Somali soldiers in the country. However, the American soldiers only traveled to Somalia for a short time.
Since then, al-Shabaab has “unfortunately been strengthening,” a U.S. government official said. In addition, the constant rotation of American soldiers and the associated entry and exit created “unnecessary and increased risk.”
Al-Qaeda-linked militants have taken control of large rural areas in East Africa and are continuing their offensive in the capital, Mogadishu. The announcement of renewed U.S. troops in Somalia comes a day after former President Hassan Sheikh Mohammed was elected the country’s new head of state.
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