# US plans sending special forces back to Somalia

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2022/05/us-plans-sending-special-forces-back-to-somalia/
- Published: 2022-05-18T09:16:59+01:00
- Author: Patrick Kenyette

United States President Joe Biden has authorized the deployment of hundreds of Special
Operations forces inside Somalia.

The authorization largely reverses the decision by President Donald J. Trump to 
withdraw nearly all 700 ground troops who had been stationed there by January last
year.

The size of that force will number fewer than 500, down from the approximately 750
personnel removed from the country.

ADVERTISEMENT

President Biden’s decision to send the SpeOps troops comes amid increasing intelligence
that al-Shabab, the Somali terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda, is increasingly
posing a threat in the region. The decision also came a day after Somali lawmakers
elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s new president.

Biden also granted the Pentagon “standing authority to target about a dozen suspected
leaders” of al-Shabab, a senior administration official told members of the press
May 16 that al-Shabab posed a danger to the American homeland and to U.S. interests
in East Africa.

ADVERTISEMENT

In January, former President Donald Trump ordered some 700 U.S. troops out of Somalia,
where special operations forces had been assisting local units for several years
in a long-running battle against the al-Shabab group.

Despite withdrawal from Somalia, US military forces still assist Somali and African
Union forces in a noncombat role including flying intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (ISR) missions from Baledogle Airfield northwest of the capital.

In September 2021, United States African Command (AFRICOM) [delivered six Puma M36 Mk 6 armoured vehicles](https://www.military.africa/2021/07/us-gifts-six-puma-mk6-armored-personnel-carriers-to-somalia)
to complement Somali security forces in the fight against al-Shabaab.

ADVERTISEMENT

In the May 16 news conference, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed that
a “small, persistent” US military presence would be returning to Somalia to continue
to train, advise, and equip partner forces in their fight against al-Shabab. Kirby
emphasized that US service members will not be involved in combat operations.

“This is a repositioning of forces that are already in theater, who have traveled
in and out of Somalia now on an episodic basis since January of 2021,” Kirby said.“
It will be a moderate presence and the work that they’re doing will be specific 
to the threat.”

### _Related_