WASHINGTON – President Biden signed an order authorizing the military to once again deploy hundreds of Special Operations forces inside Somalia – largely reversing President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw nearly 700 ground troops was stationed there, according to four officials familiar with the matter.
In addition, Biden approved a Pentagon request to permanently target about a dozen suspected leaders of Al Shabab, a Somali terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda, three of which officials said. know. Since Mr. Biden took office, airstrikes have largely been limited to those aimed at protecting partner forces facing an immediate threat.
Together, Biden’s decisions, described by officials on condition of anonymity, will revive an overt American counterterrorism campaign that has turned into a slow battle across three administrations. . The move contrasts with his decision last year to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, saying “It’s time to end the war forever. ”
Mr. Biden signed off on Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III’s proposal in early May, officials said. In a statement, Adrienne Watson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, acknowledged the move, saying it would allow “a more effective fight against Al Shabab”.
“The decision to reintroduce a permanent presence maximizes the safety and effectiveness of our forces and enables them to more effectively support our partners,” she said.
Ms. Watson did not say how many troops the military would deploy. But two people familiar with the matter said the number would be capped at around 450. That would replace a system in which the US military trains and advises Somali and European Union forces. Africa has been on a short stay since Mr. Trump issued what Ms Watson described as a “quick decision to withdraw.”
The Biden administration’s strategy in Somalia is to try to reduce the threat posed by Al Shabab by thwarting its ability to conspire and carry out sophisticated operations, a senior administration official said. These include a deadly attack on a US air base at Manda Bay, Kenya, in January 2020.
In particular, the official said, targeting a small group of leadership cadres – especially those suspected of playing a role in developing plots outside Somalia’s borders or with special skills. specifically – is intended to limit the “threat to an acceptable level”.
When asked to address a return to stronger engagement in Somalia with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, after approving the deal Mr. Trump made with the Taliban, the senior administration official argued. that the two countries exhibit significantly different complexity.
The official added that the Taliban has not expressed any intention to attack the United States and other militant groups in Afghanistan do not control territories that are important for operations and planning.
Given that Al Shabab appeared to pose a more significant threat, the administration concluded that more direct involvement in Somalia made sense, the official said. The strategy will focus on disrupting certain Shabab leaders who are seen as a direct danger to “us, our interests and our allies,” and maintaining ” very careful presence in the field to be able to work with our partners.”
Intelligence officials estimate Al Shabab has between 5,000 and 10,000 members; group, official pledge allegiance Al Qaeda in 2012, sought to impose its version of radical Islam on the tumultuous Horn of Africa country.
While Al Shabab mainly fights inside Somalia and attacks neighboring countries only occasionally, some members said to foster ambitions to attack the United States. In December 2020, prosecutors in Manhattan accused an alleged Shabab agent from Kenya of plotting a September 11-style attack on an American city. He was arrested in the Philippines while he was training to fly planes.
Biden’s decision comes after months of internal deliberations led by top White House counterterrorism adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall over whether to accept the Pentagon’s plan to maintain the status quo or reduce further involvement in Somalia.
In assessing those options, Ms. Sherwood-Randall and other top security officials visited neighboring Somalia, Kenya and Djiboutiboth host American forces, in October.
The administration’s deliberations about whether and how to forcefully return to Somalia have been complicated by politics chaos there, as factions within its fledgling government battled each other and elections were delayed. But Somalia recently elected a new parliament, and over the weekend the leaders chose a new president, decided to return to power Hassan Sheikh Mohamudwho led the country from 2012 to 2017.
For months, US commanders have warned that the short-term training missions that US Special Forces have carried out in Somalia since Mr. Trump withdrew most of the US troops in January 2021 have not performed well. They say that the spirit and capacity of the partner units have been eroded.
During each eight-week cycle, the senior administration official said, American trainers spend about three trains unaffected with partner forces because the Americans are not in Somalia or focused on transit — and traveling is the most dangerous part. Other officials have also argued that the rotating in-and-out system, rather than deploying it continuously there, is costly and inefficient.
“Our recurring engagement – also known as commuting – has posed new challenges and risks for our military,” said General Stephen J. Townsend, head of the US Africa Command. The Pentagon, told the Senate Armed Services Committee March. “My assessment is that it didn’t work.”
Intelligence officials have raised growing alarms about Al Shabab over the past few years as it expands its territory in Somalia. During its final year in office, the Obama administration made Al Shabab part of an armed conflict the United States authorized against the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.
When Mr. Trump became president, he loosen control of air raids thereand the Pentagon US combat operations escalate significantly. But just before leaving office, Mr. Trump ordered most US troops to withdraw from Somalia – except for a small force that guarded American diplomats at the bunker next to the airport in Mogadishu.
On its first day in office, the Biden administration suspended a set of easy targeting rules issued by the Trump administration, instead requiring that strike requests – except in self-defense – be directed to the White House. (Africa Command also invoked that exception for strikes carried out within the “collective” self-defense force of Somali partner forces.)
That pause is said to be for just a few months while the Biden administration reviews how targeting rules would work under the Trump and Obama administrations and devises its own. But even though it has have largely completed a proposed replacement Described as a hybrid between the two previous versions, approval was ultimately stalled amid competing national security policy issues.
The military, for its part, has attempted to continue to train, advise, and support Somali and African Union forces that do not have a permanent presence on the ground, but gradually increase their length of stay. During a visit to Somalia in FebruaryGeneral Townsend warned of the threat that Al Shabab poses to the region.
“Al Shabab remains the largest, richest and deadliest branch of Al Qaeda, responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, including Americans,” he said. “To break Al Shabab’s nefarious intentions requires leadership from the Somali people and continued support from Djibouti, Kenya, the United States and other members of the international community.”
