Trump to withdraw US troops from Somalia as he exits the White House

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WASHINGTON - Outgoing US President Donald Trump will, after all, pull out all troops serving in Somalia ahead of his exit from Oval office in January, the New York Times has reported for the second term in two months, something that could significantly affect the war against Al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa nation.

Before the exit of Mark Esper from the Department of Defense, the NYT insisted that the outgoing US President Donald Trump, who is set to leave office in January after losing to Joe Biden, was keen to withdraw the close to 700 servicemen in the war-torn nation, as part of his pre-election pledges in 2016.

Last week, Trump sacked Mark Esper, the Defense Secretary who had refused to deploy troops during the Black Lives matter campaigns. He replaced him with Christopher Miller, another bureaucrat whose strategy in the fight against Al-Shabaab was rejected by the DoD

Miller had asked Esper to work closely with some Al-Shabaab commanders as a strategy to divide the group into many segments. But the proposal was turned down by Esper according to the Washington Post and it's not clear if Miller will adopt it before he leaves office in January.

And according to the latest report, Trump, who is, however, yet to concede defeat despite an emphatic humbling by Biden, has initiated the withdrawal process across the world, with Somalia also being on the pipeline. The dates for withdrawal are, however, yet to be determined.

But the withdrawal won't affect the US forces serving in Kenya and Djibouti where drones targeting the Al-Shabaab are based, NYT added. Besides training the Somali National Army [SNA], the US Africa Command is critical in launching airstrikes that aid operations in the country.

This year alone, the command has waged 46 airstrikes against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, killing dozens of militants in the process. The US forces have also been key in the liberation of key strategic towns in Somalia, which had been under Al-Shabaab control for several years.

Early this year, the militants targeted a US naval base in Manda, Kenya, leaving at least three US citizens dead. But since then, the US Africa Command has intensified onslaught against Al-Shabaab, killing a number of those believed to have engineered the attack among them Bashir Qorab.

Last month, Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo cautioned against the withdrawal of the US Africa Command troops from Somalia, arguing that the move could derail or possibly erode gains made in the fight against the Al-Qaeda linked group.

"The United States military support to Somalia has enabled us to effectively combat Al-Shabab and secure the Horn of Africa. A victory through this journey and for Somali-US partnership can only be achieved through continuous security partnership and capacity building support," he noted.

Harun Maruf, a Washington-based Voice of America reporter and a security expert believes that nothing would prevent America from going on with the plan despite objections from Somali leaders. The move, he adds, would, however, be welcomed by the Al-Shabaab militants.

"If Trump withdraws US troops, it’ll come despite objections from Somali leaders. Pres Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo recently tweeted that continuous security partnership (with the US) and capacity building is key to combatting Al-Shabaab. Think it’s safe to say the militants will welcome it," he observes.

GAROWE ONLINE

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