CIA Director Joseph Burns makes unannounced visit to Somalia
The US official met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Somalia's Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) Mahad Salad.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Joseph Burns made an unannounced one-day visit to Somalia.
The US official met with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Somalia's Director General of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) Mahad Salad on Wednesday.
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A senior security official who sought anonymity told The Eastleigh Voice the officials discussed existing security cooperations between the two countries.
“Yes, the CIA Director secretly visited Somalia on Wednesday. He met with President Hassan Sheikh and NISA Director Mahad Salad at the airport in Mogadishu. The two sides discussed the existing security cooperation between the two countries and the fight against Al-Shabaab,” the official said without giving further details.
The visit comes at a time when relations between Somalia and Ethiopia, two close US allies in the Horn of Africa, have become frosty.
This is after a recent agreement between Addis Ababa and Somaliland, a region in Somalia, that would give landlocked Ethiopia unlawful access to the Somali sea.
The US joined other countries to denounce Ethiopia’s interference regarding Somalia's sovereignty.
The CIA also plays a vital role in Somalia in the fight against terrorism. The agency trains, equips and pays the salaries and upkeep of Somalia’s Special Forces units, known as Gaashaan.
Gaashaan is a highly equipped Counter Terrorism Elite Force that undertakes CIA-like covert operations targeting Al-Shabaab cells in Somalia.
The US spy agency also plays a significant role in supporting Somali security forces with information about enemy positions and plans as well as in pinpointing drone targets on senior Al Shabaab commanders to be taken out.
Gaashan, on the other hand, trains another Somali paramilitary unit called Waran whose salaries are also paid by the CIA.
In Somali language, “Gaashan” means shield, and “Waran” stands for spear.
Visit to Kenya
Burns' visit to Somalia comes two days after he met Kenyan President William Ruto on Monday where they held talks at State House, Nairobi.
US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman and National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Noordin Haji were also present during the meeting.
Burns serves as the head of the CIA and reports to the Director of National Intelligence.
The CIA is mandated with correlating and evaluating intelligence related to national security and providing appropriate dissemination of such intelligence.
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