Security vacuum in Somalia likely to benefit Al-Shabaab if U.S. troops leave: minister 

Somalia
U.S. forces host a range day with the Danab Brigade in Somalia, May 9, 2021. Special Operations Command Africa remains engaged with partner forces in Somalia in order to promote safety and stability across the Horn of Africa. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Zoe Russell)

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Mohamed Omar, has voiced concerns over the potential recurrence of the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw American troops from the country, who have been combating Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda’s most successful affiliate. 

“A withdrawal would create a significant security vacuum, emboldening terrorist groups and threatening the stability of not only Somalia but the broader Horn of Africa,” Omar warned in an interview with the BBC. 

In 2022, President Joe Biden reversed the Trump administration’s decision, deploying approximately 500 U.S. troops back to Somalia to conduct special operations and train the elite Danab Somali forces at Baledogle airbase, located just northeast of Mogadishu. 

These comments come weeks after former U.S. diplomat J. Peter Pham, who served under the previous Trump administration, said that the incoming administration might scrutinize AFRICOM’s operations and its presence in Somalia, potentially reinstating the 2020 order to withdraw U.S. forces as Somalia’s authorities, for over a decade, have failed to curb the increasingly resilient Al-Shabaab insurgency. 

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