Wary of China, US back to full troop deployment in Somalia

With the US on Monday announcing its decision to ‘fully’ station hundreds of its soldiers in Somalia on Monday, the stage is set for a new chapter in the Great Game between US and China that is now being played out in Africa, writes Sanjib Kr Baruah

New Delhi: While the US has attributed its decision to fully deploy hundreds of soldiers in Somalia as being due to a heightened threat from the ‘Al-Shabaab’, an Al Qaida-affiliated violent extremist Islamist group, the growing Chinese influence in the strategic Horn of Africa may have mainly contributed to the decision. On Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby had announced the decision taken by President Joe Biden authorizing the Department of Defense to place a “small, persistent” US military presence in Somalia.

“Al-Shabaab continues to conduct attacks, certainly there in Somalia. They have been capable of conducting attacks in the region. And we know that in the past, they have expressed at least the intent and desire to attack outside the region, including against American interests,"Kirby said. In the same press conference, Kirby had said “We consider China the number one pacing challenge for the department… So, we're going to stay laser focused on that pacing challenge that is China.”

By January 21, 2021, the US had withdrawn its presence of about 750 soldiers from Somalia that facilitated and aided Mogadishu’s fight against ‘Al-Shabaab’. The development to send troops to Somalia on a permanent basis is taking place amid reports that China is aiming to set up its second military base in Somalia after Djibouti.

On March 18, China had gifted Somalia $5 million in defence aid besides trucks, ambulances and mine detectors. It was followed up by a March 22 meeting between China’s foreign minister and State Councilor Wang Yi met his Somali counterpart Abdisaid Muse Ali on the sidelines of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) meet in Islamabad where China was invited as a guest.

US has had a military presence in the African country but that was toned down by President Donald Trump leading to the pullback of the about 750 US soldiers in Somalia. Recent US-Somali relations took another downturn with the purported proximity between US and representatives of the self-declared breakaway state of Somaliland which seeks independence from Somalia.

Interestingly, in 2020, Somaliland established diplomatic relations with Taiwan much to China’s indignation. What would add to US concern is China’s expanding footprints in the countries constituting the Horn of Africa. Eritrea and Ethiopia are noticeably getting close to Beijing. Somalia’s geographical position which gives it tremendous leeway over the waterways that connect Asia and the rest of the world makes it a crucial ally.

Active US intervention in Somalia is about 30 years old. US soldiers had first moved into Somalia in 1992 while leading a UN mission to end the civil war. In October 1993, the US attempted a takeover of capital Mogadishu—to nab the allies of a powerful Somali warlord, Gen Mohamed Farah Aideed—that ended in a disaster. By 2008, Somalia was an active area for US military intervention under the Global War on Terror that began after the 9/11 attacks. Courtesy of China, after a very brief lull, the US is returning to its policy of proactive military deployment in the Horn of Africa.