U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander, U.S. Africa Command (left) meets with Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu during visit to Somalia June 13-14, 2023. (Credit: africom.mil)
By Gary Raynaldo – DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, visited Somalia last week to discuss military operations including the “shared fight” against terror group al Shabaab, according to AFRICOM. While in Somalia capital city Mogadishu, Langley met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia Minister of Defense, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, senior State Department and defense officials, and African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS). In Kismayo, Langley met with the Jubaland Federal Member State President Ahmed Madobe, and Danab leadership, as well as U.S. troops to witness ongoing training efforts, and see ongoing operations firsthand, AFRICOM said in a statement.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander, U.S. Africa Command (left) meets with Somalian Minister of Defense, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur in Mogadishu during visit to Somalia June 13-14, 2023. (Credit: africom.mil)
On August 9, 2022, Gen. Langley became AFRICOM’s sixth commander since the command was established in 2008. The AFRICOM chief says he is looking to help African nations find African solutions. Last year, Gen. Langley visited Djibouti, Somalia, and Manda Bay, Kenya. In March, Langley delivered the 2023 U.S. Africa Command posture statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Among other things, the commander said African nations would be better off by not getting involved with the controversial Russian Wagner Group to help solve their problems.
“Terrorism, poverty, food insecurity, climate change, and mass migration shatter African lives and sow the seeds of violent extremism and Russian exploitation. Solutions to these colossal problems must be a shared burden and African nations need to be at the helm of a concerted international effort to produce sustainable results, sustainable outcomes,” Langley said, during his March 16 , 2023 Senate testimony.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Michael Langley, commander, U.S. Africa Command, with African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) troops during visit to Somalia June 13-14, 2023. (Credit: africom.mil)
US Air Strike Kills 3 Al-Shabaab Insurgents in Somalia
U.S. Africa Command said it conducted a “collective self-defense strike” in the vicinity of Wayanta, Somalia on June 1 that killed three al-Shabab insurgents. According to AFRICOM, the strike was conducted at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and in support of the Somali National Army engagements against al-Shabaab. The initial assessment is that the strike, approximately 60 km southwest of Kismayo, killed a trio of al-Shabaab fighters. The command’s initial assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed. Somalia remains central to stability and security in all of East Africa, according to AFRICOM. U.S. Africa Command’s forces train, advise, and assist partner forces to help give them the tools they need to defeat al-Shabaab, the largest and most deadly al-Qaeda network in the world, AFRICOM states. The U.S. and the United Kingdom are leading efforts to increase military assistance for Horn of Africa nation Somalia to Battle al-Shabaab militants. More than 60 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Somali National Army arrived in March 2023 off two U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport. AK-47s, and heavy machine guns were among the U.S. military supply.
Somali Minister of Defense Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur Jama at ceremony Jan. 8, 2023 during which the U.S. presented the Somalia National Army with $9 million in military aid. (Credit: US Embassy in Somalia)
