AFRICOM Chief Says Somalia’s Political Divisions Could Test U.S. Commitment

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The United States remains committed to supporting Somalia’s fight against Al-Shabaab and Islamic State militants, but its long-term engagement will depend on whether Somali leaders can overcome their political divisions and build institutions capable of holding on to security gains, the commander of U.S. Africa Command told local media in Mogadishu.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson said Washington had not abandoned Somalia despite competing crises elsewhere, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but he was candid about why the relationship has become harder to justify in Washington than it once was.

“Somalia sits on key terrain,” Anderson said, describing the Horn of Africa as critical to global commerce and Somalia itself as a gateway to much of East Africa. He pointed to the country’s own recent history to explain why the stakes go beyond counterterrorism. When Somalia was unstable in years past, he said, piracy off its coast disrupted international shipping, and the resulting displacement pushed migrants into other countries. “All of that creates instability, and that doesn’t allow the development and the growth and the prosperity that the people of Somalia deserve,” he said.

Anderson, who commanded U.S. Special Operations forces in Somalia from 2019 to 2021 before returning this year as the four star in charge of AFRICOM, said he has watched the same ground get fought over twice. He pointed to the Lower Shabelle region, where Somali forces and their American-backed Danab commando brigade pushed south along the river toward the town of Mubarak during his first tour, only for militants to regroup and reclaim territory once the military’s attention shifted elsewhere.

“This is what causes the frustration, because that territory was lost because somewhere the focus on terrorism was not there and it was elsewhere,” he said.

He was more upbeat about the fight against the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia’s north, saying operations in the Golis Mountains had kept the group’s fighters isolated in the caves where they hide, working alongside local Puntland forces. AFRICOM’s own strike log shows the command has continued to hit ISIS positions in that same mountain range as recently as December.

Anderson credited the Danab brigade, which the United States helped build from scratch, as one of the most capable forces on the continent, but said its future now rests with Somalia rather than Washington. “We have built that force and it is here and it’s ready to be used for counter-terrorism,” he said. “But now it’s up to Somalia to sustain that force.”

That message carried an edge. Anderson said officials in Washington have grown weary after years of counterterrorism engagement in Somalia, and are asking when the country will take full ownership of its own security, particularly with the Pentagon’s attention pulled toward Europe and the Middle East. Resources allocated to AFRICOM, he said, have been justified so far because they continue to produce results against Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State. “But if those resources are used elsewhere for other things and not for the terrorist fight, then I will have a hard time justifying keeping them here,” he said.

Anderson also pointed to Sudan as a reminder of how quickly instability can spread through the region. He called the war there a tragedy with no military solution, one that will end only when Sudanese factions themselves choose to stop fighting and outside powers help bring them together rather than fuel the conflict further.

His broader message combined reassurance with a warning. “If Somalia steps up and the government steps up, we will continue to be there,” he said. “But if we can’t see that, and the political infighting continues, then it’s going to be very hard for us to continue staying engaged.” The comment is likely to sharpen attention on Somalia’s unresolved political disputes, including tensions between the federal government in Mogadishu and regional administrations, which have repeatedly complicated security planning and slowed efforts to build a unified national response to Al-Shabaab.