US security body Pentagon to boost troops presence in Somalia

In the wake of growing presence of al-Shabaab terrorist organization, the Pentagon may increase presence of its troops on Somali territory in coming days.

On Tuesday, the head of U.S. Africa Command  told the senators that after the former United States president’s decision to decrease the presence of American troops on Somali territory, the American organization is once again thinking of deploying them in Somalia.

Trump had taken to retrieving the troops towards the last few weeks of his presidency and asked the headquarters to release a notice of their transfer to neighboring nations like  Kenya and Djibouti. He wanted them to continue the counter terrorism efforts but from outside the borders of Somalia.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Gen. Stephen Townsend said, “My view is that our periodic engagement, also referred to as commuting to work, has caused new challenges and risks for our troops.”

The American official said that the terror group al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group in eastern Africa, is currently listed among the fastest growing terrorist groups in the world and it poses great deal of threat in the region. Hence the US is considering increasing its military presence as the available presence is not sufficient.

He further added that he has given notes on the situation and what needs to be done to his department and whoever needs to be informed but at the moment, he cannot go into details about what is the decision or which way is it going.