Trump Steps Up US Military Presence in Somalia
The United States Defense Department announced on Thursday that US president, Donald Trump, has given the go-ahead to boost the US military’s presence in Somalia.
The US military will now conduct air strikes in the area in an effort to defeat jihadist terrorists there.
According to the Pentagon, this means that the United States will no longer need to justify their decision to launch air strikes in the area and that they can now launch these air strikes at will.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon, Navy Captain Jeff Davis, said that that the president approved the proposal, which was put forward by the military.
“The president has approved a Department of Defence proposal to provide additional precision fires in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia and Somali security forces operations [sic],” he said.
The US forces in the country are fighting against jihadi terrorists, most of them belonging to al-Shabaab.
Davis said that the additional military presence in Somalia will help ‘protect’ US citizens.
“The additional support provided by this authority will help deny al-Shabaab safe havens from which it could attack US citizens or US interests in the region,” he told reporters.
