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Reversing Trump, Biden deploys US troops to Somalia

Somalia Bomb Blast
Posted at 11:32 AM, May 16, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-16 11:32:46-04

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia amid heightened concerns about the country’s Islamic extremist rebels, known as al-Shabab.

The move is a reversal of President Donald Trump’s late-term decision to remove nearly all 700 Special Operator forces that had been operating there. Biden’s decision, confirmed by a senior administration official, comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had requested the deployment.

Austin had said it was needed “to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab, which has increased in strength and poses a heightened threat.”

The announcement comes as Somalia elected a new president over the weekend — Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Mohamud returns to power after serving as president from 2012-17.