(Headline USA) The U.S. military says its troop withdrawal from Somalia is complete, in a fulfillment of President Donald Trump‘s promise to reduce the military’s role as world police.
The withdrawal comes less than a month before Somalia is set to hold a national election.
The U.S. personnel trained and supported Somali forces, including its elite special forces, in counter-terror operations.
They are being moved to other African countries such as neighboring Kenya and Djibouti, home of the only permanent U.S. military base in Africa, but U.S. Africa Command spokesman Col. Chris Karns would not say how many are going where.
Asked whether the administration of Democrat Joe Biden will reverse the withdrawal, Karns replied in an email: “It would be inappropriate for us to speculate or engage in hypotheticals.”
Karns said the operation enters its “next phase of periodic engagement with Somali security forces.” He would not go into details.
The withdrawal was announced late last year, with a Jan. 15 deadline.
The U.S. military, which has carried out a growing number of airstrikes against al-Shabab and a small band of fighters linked to the Islamic State group during Trump’s administration, says it will continue to pressure al-Shabab.
The extremist group has an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 fighters.
The U.S. Africa Command commander, Gen. Stephen Townsend, noted “no serious injuries or significant loss of equipment, despite significant efforts to target us by al-Shabab” during the “intense” operation to remove the U.S. personnel.
Townsend on Saturday visited Manda Bay in Kenya, where the U.S. Africa Command said “substantial enhancements have been made to physical security” after a deadly al-Shabab attack a year ago destroyed U.S. aircraft used against it in Somalia.
