U.S dispatches 5,000 sailors and Marines off coast of Somalia

The Pentagon this week dispatched 5,000 sailors and Marines to the waters off the coast of Somalia, offering a show of strength to extremist groups such as al-Shabaab as U.S. ground forces prepare to exit the chaotic country.

Officials with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in the Indian Ocean off Somalia’s coast on Monday. The Makin Island group is composed of an amphibious assault ship, the USS Makin Island, and two amphibious transport dock ships, USS San Diego and USS Somerset. Those ships will conduct maritime security operations with the expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams, officials said.

The Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Pentagon said, “provides sea-based forces capable of executing overland combat operations, amphibious long range air-assaults, expeditionary strikes and joint aviation operations.”

“This is a great example of how the United States can rapidly aggregate combat power to respond to emerging issues. We will look to leverage this inherent flexibility of the U.S. military in support of our future engagements in East Africa,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander of Joint Task Force Quartz, which is overseeing the redeployment of about 700 U.S. ground troops from Somalia.

President Trump ordered those forces to leave Somalia earlier this month. Pentagon leaders say they will be deployed to other locations in east Africa, and they stressed that the U.S. military’s ability to target the terrorist group al-Shabaab will not be affected by the moves.

Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate, controls about 25% of Somali territory and routinely carries out terrorist attacks across the country. Throughout the Trump presidency, the U.S. has waged an aggressive air campaign against the group. Officials say that campaign will continue despite the troop withdrawal from Somalia.

The naval and Marine forces off Somalia’s coast, AFRICOM said, will “provide a full spectrum of combat and logistics capabilities” to aid in the redeployment of forces from Somalia.