Reversing Trump, Biden acts to deploy US troops to Somalia

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia amid heightened concerns about the country’s Islamic extremist rebels, known as al-Shabab

Somalia Bomb Blast (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia amid heightened concerns about the country's Islamic extremist rebels, known as al-Shabab. The move is a reversal of President Donald Trump's late-term decision to remove nearly all 700 Special Operator forces that had been operating there.

Biden's decision, confirmed by a senior administration official, comes after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requested the deployment “to reestablish a persistent U.S. military presence in Somalia to enable a more effective fight against al-Shabaab, which has increased in strength and poses a heightened threat.”

The official, who requested anonymity to discuss a decision that has been formally announced, said American forces already in the region would be repositioned.