{"id":31022,"date":"2019-11-05T11:06:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T11:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/05\/africom-commander-heads-to-somalia-as-airstrikes-against-violent-extremists-rise\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:17:24","slug":"africom-commander-heads-to-somalia-as-airstrikes-against-violent-extremists-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/11\/05\/africom-commander-heads-to-somalia-as-airstrikes-against-violent-extremists-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"AFRICOM commander heads to Somalia as airstrikes against violent extremists rise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Africa Command commander Army Gen. Stephen Townsend is in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/10\/25\/us-strikes-isis-fighters-in-somalia\/\" target=_blank>Somalia<\/a> to visit U.S. troops and other global leaders \u2014 a move that comes amid a slight uptick in airstrikes against violent extremists in Somalia this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The purpose of my engagements is to meet with important African, international and U.S. key leaders, to visit our troops and to assess the progress of our campaign in East Africa and against al-Shabaab,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/08\/07\/new-head-of-africom-visits-somalia-as-pressure-on-al-shabaab-increases\/\" target=_blank>Townsend<\/a>, who had headed the command since July, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Townsend is slated to visit Somali President Mohamed Abdullah Farmaajo on Nov. 5, according to AFRICOM. He visited Djibouti on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Townsend claimed that violent extremist groups, including al-Shabab, an al-Qaida offshoot, and ISIS-Somalia, aim to target the U.S., and pose a threat to U.S. interests and African partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDue to persistent pressure our campaign puts on al-Shabaab and ISIS, we believe they lack the actual capability to attack our homeland but we must stay vigilant and keep pressing them,\u201d Townsend said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, AFRICOM has conducted 55 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/09\/30\/extremists-launch-2-attacks-on-military-targets-in-somalia\/\" target=_blank>airstrikes<\/a> in 2019 against violent extremist organizations \u2014 an increase from the 47 airstrikes conducted in 2018 and 35 airstrikes in 2017, AFRICOM spokesperson Air Force Col. Chris Karns told Military Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The command estimates that there are between 5,000 to 7,000 al-Shabab fighters in Somalia, and approximately 150 to 300 ISIS-Somalia militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe number of al-Shabaab militants has remained relatively stable, but their hold on territory has significantly declined,\u201d Karns said. \u201cThe loss of ground equates to loss of ability to influence and negatively impact more innocent Somali futures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airstrikes conducted against the militants are designed to foster organizational discord and \u201cafford time and space for advancements in security, governance and economic development,\u201d according to Karns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe increase in strikes has increased confusion within the terrorist network and has impacted their ability to organize and commit acts of violence and terror against innocent people,\u201d Karns said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approximately 650 to 800 U.S. forces are in Somalia at any given time, Karns said. A key responsibility for AFRICOM forces is instructing and building ground forces, including the Somali special operations unit called the Danab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Karns, Somali military forces have been successful in keeping the territory seized from al-Shabab and likewise fending off al-Shabab counter attacks. These successful seizures from Somalia\u2019s government and partner forces have led to gathering important intelligence that aids future efforts, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis intelligence allows targets to be developed, and ultimately eliminated, through intelligence-sharing, armed overwatch and airstrikes,\u201d Karns said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lt. Cmdr. Desiree Frame, a spokeswoman for AFRICOM, previously told Military Times that AFRICOM has been involved training approximately 1,000 out of 3,000 planned special operations Danab troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTerrorists need to know we will pursue them relentlessly to disrupt and degrade them today and prevent their spread tomorrow,\u201d Townsend said. \u201cAs long as terrorists threaten and try to impose their extreme beliefs on the people and their government, they will not be able to sleep peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Townsend is slated to visit Somali President Mohamed Abdullah Farmaajo and Chief of Defense Brig. Gen. Odawa Yusuf Raage on Nov. 5, according to AFRICOM. He visited Djibouti on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3305],"class_list":["post-31022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"TMH742OCVVGHHI4OPOB5JCPDZY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2019\/11\/05\/africom-commander-heads-to-somalia-as-airstrikes-against-violent-extremists-rise\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AFRICOM commander heads to Somalia as airstrikes against violent extremists rise - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Townsend is slated to visit Somali President Mohamed Abdullah Farmaajo and Chief of Defense Brig. 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