US prepares to hit ‘Add to cart’ on additional forever conflict
(MENAFN) The US may be on the verge of extending its military reach in Africa after Somalia offered control over two key ports and two airbases in the country's east. The facilities — located in Puntland and Somaliland, two breakaway regions outside the Somali federal government’s control — were presented as part of a proposal to help combat the growing threat posed by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked group.
A leaked March letter from Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to US President Donald Trump reveals plans to give Washington exclusive control of the Balidogle and Berbera airbases, as well as the Berbera and Bosaso ports. The move aims to enable the US to respond more effectively to terrorism and maintain a foothold in the strategically important Horn of Africa.
The Somali government says this step is meant to counter Al-Shabaab's ties with Yemen’s Houthi movement, which it alleged is supplying the terrorist group with explosives and drones. At the end of April, President Mohamud insisted that Somali authorities had intercepted shipments of weapons from Yemen destined for Al-Shabaab.
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