Somali officials fear withdrawal of US forces, increasing "terrorist" activities

Secretary General said the Defense and Security Committee in the Senate, the Federal Somali, Ahmed Hashi, said that Trump's proposal means that "the United States under the (rule) Trump runs her back to the Somalis at a critical time."  

In an interview with the network, Voice of America, Hashi said that "for Somalia, the withdrawal of US troops means a setback and morale boost to the terrorists."

Earlier this week, the "New York Times" reported that Trump was planning to bring back about 700 American soldiers assigned to training and fighting terrorism in Somalia.

The newspaper pointed out that Trump is planning to sharply reduce the number of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Al-Hashi sees the recent withdrawal as a "terrifying blow to the Somali army."

There are about 7,000 American soldiers in Somalia, helping local forces defeat Al-Shabaab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, in a process that does not receive much attention in the United States, but is considered a cornerstone of the Pentagon's global efforts to fight Al Qaeda.

In the same context, an army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "We received news about the order to withdraw our partner forces," adding, "What I know is that such a decision would be a dangerous setback for our gains in fighting terrorism."

The United States has already withdrawn from Bossaso and Galkayo since about three weeks ago, and its troops still present in the city of Kismayo, a port in the southern air base of special forces in the capital, Mogadishu, and in Baledogle.

A civil war has ravaged Somalia since 1991, but over the past decade, peacekeepers backed by the African Union wrested control of the capital and large parts of the country from Al Shabaab.

J.O