Pentagon chief in Kenya for defense talks

NAIROBI, Kenya

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled Monday to Kenya for talks with defense officials about security and counterterrorism.

Before departing for Nairobi, Austin thanked U.S. troops at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, highlighting what he called their “very impressive” role in evacuating U.S. diplomats from Sudan in April.

“This facility is really important. We stood up a capability here following the 9/11 attacks as we were working our efforts against violent extremist organizations,” Austin said. “Since that time, not only has this location helped us to do that, but we've also expanded the kinds of things that we can do from this location to include some of the things that you recently helped us with like evacuating our diplomats from Sudan.”

Austin on Sunday praised Somali forces for making “impressive progress” in the fight against al-Shabab but cautioned that the terror group still can “export terror from ungoverned spaces.”

Austin met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Djibouti Sunday as part of his first visit to the African continent as defense secretary. 

Earlier, Austin met with the Djiboutian president and defense minister, thanking them for hosting the United States’ primary base in Africa and for supporting Somalia in its fight against extremist groups.

Somalia’s army and allied clan militias have continued to drive al-Shabab fighters out of central Somalia as part of the country’s military offensive since the president declared “total war” against the militants in August 2022.

But terrorists continue to strike at Somali forces, with a truck bombing near a security checkpoint in the central Somali town of Beledweyne killing 21 people and wounding 52 others Saturday. 

Security forces had been tipped off about the truck and were inspecting it when it detonated, Beledweyne District Omar Osman Alasow told VOA.

The meeting between Austin and Mohamud came two days after a small arms fire attack on a military barracks in Kulbiyow, Somalia, left one U.S. contractor and a partner force member injured, a senior defense official told VOA.

A pro-al-Shabab outlet claimed the attack injured four U.S. forces and nine members of Kenya’s forces. The senior defense official told VOA that was "overblown,” adding that no U.S. service member was injured, and the contractor's injuries did not require medivac.

Recent violence has led Somali officials to seek a 90-day delay in the scheduled drawdown of African Union peacekeepers to account for what the Somali government calls “several significant setbacks.”

“He (President Mohamud) wants to do everything that he can to maintain momentum,” Austin said in response to VOA, without commenting further on the Somali request to the African Union.

Three thousand African Union forces are expected to withdraw from Somalia by the end of this month, with all African Union forces set to withdraw by the end of next year.

Pulling support for Somalia too early, or not devoting enough resources to countering Islamic extremists in Africa, could allow terror groups to overrun the country much like the Taliban did while the U.S. was withdrawing its military forces there, says Bill Roggio, a former soldier and editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, which publishes reporting and analysis of global counterterrorism efforts.

“We're operating on the margins against these jihadist groups, barely keeping them contained,” Roggio told VOA."

Meanwhile, U.S. defense officials say the U.S. has not seen a withdrawal of a substantial number of Wagner Group forces following the death of its leader last month.

“Wagner still has a substantial presence on the continent,” Austin told reporters Sunday in Djibouti.

More than one month since Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, the U.S. has not yet seen a “decisive shift” in Wagner’s relationship with the Kremlin or signs that Moscow has absorbed the group’s operations across Africa, a senior defense official said.

“I think what you'll see in the future here is probably some competition within the ranks to (see) who's going to be the next leader,” Austin told reporters Sunday. “I think you'll also see potentially the Russian government moving to either replace Wagner with some other kind of element or using Russian forces to support efforts on the continent.”- Agencies