US airstrikes kill 10 al-Shabab fighters as Somalia deteriorates

The security situation in Somalia is in danger of deteriorating after the last African Union troops leave the country, said Jocelyn Trainer, an expert on the Horn of Africa with the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington, D.C.

Even with African Union forces in Somalia the country’s security situation has ebbed and flowed, with 2022 marking the deadliest year in Somalia since 2018, Trainer told Task & Purpose. Al-Shabab has consistently shown that it can adopt new tactics, such as using improvised explosive devices, and either win support from civilians or force them to submit.

“Somali security forces also face a growing presence of the Islamic State in Mogadishu, increasingly active clan militias—that have fluid loyalties—and tensions with Somaliland in addition to increased violence from al-Shabaab. The Horn is also becoming increasingly unstable at large, potentially contributing to increased tensions with neighbors, such as Ethiopia, and reduced resources and political will to enhance the security situation in Somalia. These factors contribute to an increasingly difficult security situation for the nascent Somali Army to tame.”

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