The Pentagon announced in a statement Thursday there are now “more than” 500 US troops on the ground in Somalia.
A significant increase from early 2014 when roughly two dozen troops arrived for the first time since 1993 and the Black Hawk Down incident.
US Africa Command says there have been 28 airstrikes this year, mostly from drones against al-Shabaab, long considered the greatest terror threat in Africa.
At a press conference Thursday at the Pentagon, a top defense official denied any “ramp-up.”
“I do not believe necessarily there’s a ramp-up,” said Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr., director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff when asked about the spike in airstrikes in Somalia. “It’s the density of targets is such that now there’s some of opportunities to do those strikes.”
The US military recently conducted six straight days of airstrikes in Somalia from last Thursday to Tuesday.
Last month, al-Shabaab was blamed for a truck bombing in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu which killed over 300 people.
