US soldiers back in Somalia
Biden revises Trump’s troop withdrawal decision
05/16/2022, 8:57 p.m
Shortly before leaving office, President Trump withdraws all US soldiers from the crisis region of Somalia. His successor is now reversing the decision, as the Biden government perceives an increasing terrorist threat from the African country.
The United States is again stationing troops in Somalia because of a growing threat from the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. A senior US government official said in a telephone switchboard with journalists that the withdrawal from the East African country ordered by President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump at the end of 2020 would be reversed. Since then, al-Shabaab has grown in strength.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, had ordered the withdrawal of most of the US soldiers stationed in Somalia at the end of 2020 in his last weeks in office. As a result, around 750 US soldiers left the country. As a result, the US army continued to fight against the Shebab militia and trained Somali soldiers in the country. However, US soldiers only traveled to Somalia for short stays. The number of soldiers will be less than 500 in the future and thus below the level before the withdrawal.
The Sunni terrorist group Al-Shabaab has been fighting for supremacy in the country on the Horn of Africa for years. The US soldiers there supported the Somali government and the local security forces in the fight against Al-Shabaab.
The US official said al-Shabaab has become the largest and wealthiest ally of the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The terrorist organization has been responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen Americans in Africa in recent years. Biden is following a recommendation from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin by redeploying US soldiers. The announcement of a renewed US troop presence in Somalia came a day after ex-President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected the country’s new head of state.