US donates Somalia $9 million worth of weapons, equipment for anti-al-Shabab campaign

The United States has provided $9 million in new military aid to help Somalia’s ongoing campaign against al-Shabab militants, the US embassy in Mogadishu announced. The military equipment handed to the government includes weapons and vehicles and is destined to support the campaign by the Somali National Army to liberate communities from al-Shabab control.

It’s the first such direct military support since US forces returned to Somalia and the country’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced an “all-out war” against the militants.

According to Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, Somalia’s Defense Minister, the military donation from its US ally was a show of confidence and testimony that the Somali military can be trusted to manage the weapons without it falling into the wrong hands. He added that the weapons will play an important role in fighting the Khawarij, which is a derogatory term used by Somali officials to describe al-Shabab. Somali forces have been engaged in an offensive alongside local clan militias against al-Shabab since July.

The US is among the largest contributors of support to the Somali National Army, especially for its commando wing, the Danab Special Forces, which is trained for close-range fighting with al-Shabab in urban areas. American military personnel in the US Africa Command area of responsibility have provided advise-and-assist support to forces in Somalia on an ad hoc basis — traveling into the country when needed and then leaving afterward. But in May last year, Pentagon announced this ad hoc model was about to change to one of persistent presence in the country. “The president has authorized the Department of Defense to return a small, persistent US military presence to Somalia,” Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said.