Exclusive: U.S. discloses secret Somalia military presence, up to 120 troops

(Reuters) – U.S. military advisors have secretly operated in Somalia since around 2007 and Washington plans to deepen its security assistance to help the country fend off threats by Islamist militant group al Shabaab, U.S. officials said.

The comments are the first detailed public acknowledgement of a U.S. military presence in Somalia dating back since the U.S. administration of George W. Bush and add to other signs of a deepening U.S. commitment to Somalia’s government, which the Obama administration recognized last year.

The deployments, consisting of up to 120 troops on the ground, go beyond the Pentagon’s January announcement that it had sent a handful of advisors in October. That was seen at the time as the first assignment of U.S. troops to Somalia since 1993 when two U.S. helicopters were shot down and 18 American troops killed in the “Black Hawk Down” disaster.

The plans to further expand U.S. military assistance coincide with increasing efforts by the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers to counter a bloody seven-year insurgent campaign by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab to impose strict Islamic law inside Somalia.

Those U.S. plans include greater military engagement and new funds for training and assistance for the Somali National Army (SNA), after years of working with the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, which has about 22,000 troops in the country from Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Djibouti and Ethiopia.

“What you’ll see with this upcoming fiscal year is the beginning of engagement with the SNA proper,” said a U.S. defense official, who declined to be identified. The next fiscal year starts in October.

An Obama administration official told Reuters there were currently up to 120 U.S. military personnel on the ground throughout Somalia and described them as trainers and advisors.

“They’re not involved in combat,” the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that until last year, U.S. military advisors had been working with AMISOM troop contributors, as opposed to Somali forces.

President Barack Obama last year determined that Somalia could receive U.S. military assistance.

Another official said American forces over the years had provided advice and assistance in areas related to mission planning, small unit tactics, medical care, human rights and communications. The official said U.S. forces in Somalia have also facilitated coordination, planning and communication between AMISOM troop contributors and Somali security forces.

SPECIAL OPS

The comments expand upon a little noticed section of a speech given early in June by Wendy Sherman, under secretary of state for political affairs. She publicly acknowledged that a “small contingent of U.S. military personnel” including special operations forces had been present in parts of Somalia for several years.

Still, it was not immediately clear from her remarks the extent to which U.S. personnel had been operating.

U.S. special operations forces have staged high-profile raids in the past in Somalia, including an aborted attempt in October to capture an al Shabaab operative in the militant group’s stronghold of Barawe. U.S. officials have acknowledged Washington’s support for AMISOM and Somalia’s struggle against al Shabaab.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency officials have been known to operate in the country.

U.S. troop numbers on the ground in Somalia vary over time, the officials told Reuters. Deployments are “staggered” and “short-term,” one official said. But the Obama administration official added that there was overlap in the deployments to allow for a persistent presence on the ground.

Asked about where U.S. forces were deployed, the administration official said they were “in locations throughout Somalia” but declined to elaborate further for security reasons.

The official declined to say precisely when the first U.S. military forces went back into Somalia, saying: “It was around 2007″ and in support of AMISOM.

Asked about why Sherman chose to disclose the information, a State Department official told Reuters: “In the past, our assessment of the security situation in Somalia informed our decision to err on the side of force protection concerns and not divulge their presence.”

That’s changed, the official said. “We do not currently believe that acknowledging the U.S. presence will increase the already high threat to our personnel and citizens operating in Somalia.”

The announcement also reflects a deepening of the U.S.-Somali relationship and comes as the United States prepares to name its first ambassador for Somalia since 1993, who would initially be based out of the country due to security concerns.

“Absolutely there’s been a shift” in the relationship, an Obama administration official said.

Military trainers from the European Union are already on the ground in Somalia training soldiers after shifting their operations at the end of last year to Mogadishu from Uganda, where troops were previously drilled.

Source: Reuters

BREAKING NEWS: SOMALIA: Two displaced children dead in today’s suicide car bomb in Mogadishu

Mogadishu: Two young displaced children were among four people killed in today’s car bomb blast that hit near Somalia’s Federal Parliament building in Mogadishu.
The suicide car bomber failed an attempt to hit the building of the interior ministry as he immediately drove into a group of police forces standing near the popular Statue of Sayidka, which is very close to an IDP camp housed more than two thousand of families.
Two soldiers and two young children were killed in the attack, according to police spokesman Colonel Qasim Ahmed Roble.
The bodies of the two young children were found in the IDP camp as the ambulance rushed to the hospital but were proclaimed dead minutes after.
The blast also resulted the injuries of more than 10 persons including soldiers and civilians.
The attack was immediately claimed by the Al Qaeda-inspired rebel group of Al Shabab which vowed more attacks during the Holy Ramadan month.

Somali Prime Minister, the UN envoy for Somalia and other international people condemned the attack.

SOMALIA: Somali Islamist rebels Al Shabab claim the killing of the MP

Somali Islamist rebels Al shabab has claimed the killing of the member of Somali parliament Mohamed Mohamud Hayd who was killed today in broad day light in Mogadishu.

The Al-Qaida Affiliated militants Alshabab said their fighters had carried out the assassination that slain a Member of Somali Parliament.

“Some of our soldiers have killed the member of the parliament who worked for the disbelievers and also wounded another, we thank Allah and the attacks will continue,” the militants published.

Mohamed Mohamud Hayd along with another Somali law maker was raided today amid driving at Hamarwayne district in Somali national capital of Mogadishu. The perpetrators were reported to have escaped immediately after carried out the murder in broad day light.

The militants have doubled their attacks in the Somali capital during the holy month of Ramadan while the government have launched security boosting operations termed “Open your fast with peace”.

SOMALIA: U.S. says killing of MP Hayd exemplifies the danger al-Shabaab poses to all Somalis

Mogadishu: The United States strongly condemns the killing of Somali MP Mohammed Mohamud Hayd today in Mogadishu, according to statement released by the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, in the neigboring Kenya.

“We offer our condolences to his family.” the statement read. “This attack exemplifies the danger al-Shabaab poses to all Somalis, and their disrespect for the principles of peace, justice and compassion that Somalis everywhere are commemorating during the holy month of Ramadan.”

The United States stands with the people of Somalia, the Somali National Army, and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces and will continue to work closely with Somali political and security leaders to combat al-Shabaab.

Meanwhile President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker Jawari condemned he attack calling the security officials to properly and swiftly investigate and report the case.

Late MP Mohamed Mohamud Hayd was laid to rest in Mogadishu late on Thursday after gun men attacked his vehicle and shot him dead at Hamarweine district of Mogadishu shortly after he left his hotel to the parliament.

None of the perpetrators were arrested until yet as the militant group Al Shabab immediately went publicly to claim the killing of the veteran Member of Somalia Parliament.

SOMALIA: Unkown gunmen kills Turkish national in Mogadishu

A Turkish national has been  killed today in the capital Mogadishu amid he was driving in the city.

Senior Turkish airline officer was today killed after unknown armed gunmen opened fierce fire on a Saadettin Doğan car that the officer was driving at KM4 Street in Mogadishu.

This officer was confirmed dead before he was admitted to the hospital where the attackers immediately escaped the scene.

The motive of the killing of the officer said to have been working for Turkish airline; the first international airline that started flights in Mogadishu since Somalia’s central government was ousted in early 90s, is not yet established although security agencies has related it with the Al-qaida linked Al-shabab militants who recently vowed to plot attacks against Turkish nationals in Somalia.

 Turkish ambassador to Somalia Kani Torin has urged the federal government of Somalia to carry out intensive investigations on this murder and bring the perpetrators before the justice.

 Turksih airline has early in 2012 started direct flights to Mogadishu, marking the first international airline that landed in the war ravaged international airport Adden Adde in more than twenty years

Kenyan Fighter Jets Strike Militant Targets in Southern Somalia

Kenyan fighter jets attacked al-Qaeda-linked militants in southern Somalia, two days after explosions in its capital city left at least 12 people dead.
The Kenyan air force struck an explosives-making compound at Jilib, about 334 kilometers (207 miles) southwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said on his Twitter account. A second site housing al-Shabaab fighters, some of them Kenyans, was also hit by the jets, he said. An assessment of the damage is under way.
“The warplanes attacked farmlands on the outskirts of Jilib town,” Mohamed Abdi Kalil, governor of Somalia’s Gedo region, said by phone. There were no casualties, he said.
Kenya’s military began an incursion into southern Somalia in October 2011 to combat al-Shabaab militants it blamed for a series of attacks on aid workers and tourists. Al-Shabaab threatened to retaliate unless the forces were withdrawn and in September the group claimed responsibility for a raid on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, which left at least 67 people dead.
On May 16, two explosions hit the Gikomba market on the outskirts of Nairobi’s city center, killing 12 people and injuring 99. Those deaths add to the 54 people who have died and 193 that have been wounded in “terrorist attacks” in Kenya since the Westgate raid, according to Maplecroft, the Bath, U.K.-based risk consultancy.
Source: Bloomberg

SOMALIA: FROM A RADIANT SMILE TO A RUMPLED FROWN

Damul Jadiid’s house of smiles is frowning these days. Their ascent to power began with a sack of money, a contagious smile and snail’s pace to sneak away with the loot. There was something unsettling about that smile anyways; it was too bright for a nation brimming with despondency; it was a contrast to the status quo. Its gaiety and contagiousness reverberated across the oceans as Somalis around the world welcomed him with a sense of hope. Oh, my people, how gullible you are!

And wider and shinier it grew, as the donor nations promised billions to rebuild the torn nation. It was so bright it dimmed the midday sun in Mogadishu. That is when Ali Baba stole Aladdin’s lamp to see through the dark halls of the funders’ palaces. And so the smile continued to grow. Armed with a lot of NGO abstraction and a whole lot of experience in earning without fret and toil, he thought it will get better when he gets to the top of it all. Because then, he gets to decide who wins and who looses. Or so he thought with a sarcastic grin.

The frequent flyer president kept up the smile in the air and on the ground. Not swayed by the suffering of the young and old whose homes were pillaged by the militia of his kith, he kept it up as Kabhanley burned. And with Lower Shabelle incinerated, he marched forth showing even the last molars for all to see. And brighter it grew as twenty villages in Jowhar were combusted rendering an entire population homeless. As the crocodiles feasted on their children, he was neither frazzled nor frayed. The burning of each village gave him strength and more resolve to get more loot.

He kept on smiling as Puntland was washed away by tornados. It was one of the times, when pain and misery overwhelms a community that even lip service heels some wounds. And where is that million dollars he promised – oh my, oh my, he could not spare it. Still unmoved by the suffering of the people whose president he is, he kept on flying and smiling as if nothing had happened. Until she, the intrepid Lady Yusur Abrar that is, frowzled the smile telling the world it surely is fake. What a moment for the Somali women in shaming the men who ruined their nation!

And finally, they woke up and smelled the foul smell in the air. They put two and two together – alas, they were dealing with a cult – a slithering, slimy cult which changes colours so aptly it puts even a chameleon to shame. And suddenly it all stopped – no cash and no candy! Though waned and interspersed with momentary frowns, the smile continued to glitter. But since Prime Minister Saacid left, it has been more of a nervous smile. With a new Prime Minister who, so far, seems to be more creative, determined, bolder and not bound by the shackles or Damul Jadiid, like his predecessor, the smile was slowly but surely turning upside down.

And then, out of the blue the parliament had an ace in their hand. They demand the smile to end – they had enough of it and could not take it anymore!

I do not expect much from the Somali parliament. They have an entrenched finesse of thinking with their stomach. Frankly, every clan must recall their members of parliament.

They have not done anything but ruin their clan’s reputation – if at all Somali clans had any left that is. But that is a story for another day.

Any allegation against the president is true! I mean it. Any! That is if the parliament is sincere about the motion against the president. But sincerity itself is for sale in the Somali parliament and the price is not much. It is a kilo of kat, preferably mira!

Nur Bahal
Toronto, ON
hildiid@gmail.com