U.S. Soldiers assigned to the East Africa Response Force (EARF), deployed in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, prepare to depart for Libreville, Gabon, at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Jan. 2, 2019. (Credit: U.S. Army)

By Gary Raynaldo      –   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

WASHINGTON    DC  –   PENTAGON  –    In May of this year,  President Biden on Monday authorized the Department of Defense to re-deploy hundreds of U.S. troops into Horn of Africa nation  Somalia  to battle al-Shabab.  President Donald Trump  had ordered the withdrawal of nearly all 700 American  troops from Somalia during his final days in office.  Since the troops departed,  there has been sharp rise in extremist activity by  the al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab terrorist group.  Al-Shabaab continues to conduct bombings against civilians and businesses as well as targeted assassinations of key government figures.  And just last month,  a terrorist attack in  Somalia capital city Mogadishu killed  100 people and wounded approximately 300 more.  The deadliest such attack since 2017.   It is not known exactly how many U.S. troops have redeployed back into Somalia since President Biden’s authorization, nor what specific counter-terror operations they  are conducting.  Responding to a question by Diplomatic Times regarding the re-deployment of  U.S. soldiers during a  press briefing Tuesday,  Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder was unable to provide information of troop numbers in the Horn of Africa nation.  He was unable to shed any light on the role U.S. troops have been engaging  in since returning  to Somalia. 

“So as you highlight, the U.S. does have a defense relationship with Somalia in terms of advising in a — and training. In terms of the numbers, I don’t have any specific numbers to provide. But again, this is an important counterterrorism relationship, and we’ll continue to work with the Somali government in terms of addressing terrorist threats like Al-Shebaab.”

(Photo by Gary Raynaldo /©Diplomatic  Times)  Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder briefs reporters at the Pentagon in Washington DC Nov. 15, 2022.

U.S. forces based in East Africa and Djibouti had been commuting back and forth into Somalia in “over-the-horizon” operations with no permanent presence there.   However, just moving into and out of the country, rather than staying in place, increased the risk to U.S. troops, according to Pentagon officials.  Gen. Stephen Townsend,  the former head of U.S. Africa Command,  called Al-Shabab a primary enemy in Somalia and “the largest and most kinetically active  al Qaeda network in the world.”  

Camp Lemonnier located in Djibouti is the primary base of operations for U.S. Africa Command  in the Horn of Africa. 

There is only one  “official”  permanent  U.S. military base in all of Africa, Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, which serves as the major hub for the U.S. military presence on the continent. And AFRICOM, one of the 11 unified combatant commands of the US DOD responsible for military operations in Africa, has its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Camp Lemonnier is the primary base of operations for AFRICOM  in the Horn of Africa. Camp Lemonnier has approximately 4,000 joint and allied forces military and civilian personnel.