Somalia and the United States on Monday agreed to intensify security operations against militant group al-Shabab in the Horn of Africa nation, reported Xinhuanet.
U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale met with Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in Mogadishu on Monday. They agreed to step up efforts to flush out al-Shabab from the country and prepare Somali forces to take over from the African Union Mission to Somalia.
“They agreed on the value of security operations to liberate areas from al-Shabab and preparing Somali forces to take over from the African Union Mission to Somalia,” the U.S. said in a statement issued after the meeting.
Al-Shabab currently controls large parts of rural southern and central Somalia. The militant group continues to carry out attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in a bid to overthrow the internationally-backed Somali government.
Washington and other international partner forces have intensified incursions into territory formerly controlled by al-Shabab after driving the insurgents out of Mogadishu in 2011. The U.S. military has increased airstrikes against al-Shabab since 2017.
Khaire briefed Hale on recent political and security developments and Somalia’s progress towards meeting the conditions for debt relief that would allow the country to resume borrowing from international financial institutions.
On his part, the U.S. official reaffirmed the US commitment to assist Somalia with political reform, economic development, and stabilization efforts. He expressed expectation of a peaceful and credible election in the Somali federal member state of Jubaland later this month and encouraged progress to allow one-person, one-vote Somali national elections beginning next year.
Hale, who is currently a regional tour to Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan from 5 to 7 August, will head to Sudan on Wednesday where he will meet the representatives of the Transitional Military Council and the Forces of Freedom and Change to discuss the democratic transition.
