AFRICOM Commander Dagvin Anderson begins East Africa tour in Somalia
AFRICOM supports African-led security solutions, enhances readiness, and builds partner capacity across the continent to counter shared threats and promote regional stability.
US Africa Command (AFRICOM) Commander General Dagvin Anderson has begun his maiden visit to East Africa, specifically Kenya and Somalia, since taking command.
In Somalia, he met with the Head of the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission (AUSSOM), El-Hadj Ibrahima Diene and his deputy, Major General Peter Muteti, and discussed support for Somali Security Forces, operations against Al-Shabaab and enhancing cooperation for long-term stability.
"Gen Anderson stressed that cooperation and burden sharing among partners are essential to success in defeating terrorism. And he recognised that while the United States provides a wide range of support to Somalia and AUSSOM, it is African troops who are taking the fight to the enemy," the US Embassy in Somalia said in a post on X on Wednesday.
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After Somalia, he is expected to visit Nairobi and engage in similar high-level meetings.
Gen Anderson is not new to security challenges in the Horn of Africa region, having served as the lead Special Operations Command, a component of AFRICOM responsible for special operations activities in Africa.
In July, he told the US Senate that it would require him to evaluate whether AFRICOM's engagement in Somalia should focus on the Federal Government or the federal member states.
General Dagvin Anderson (centre) at AUSSOM during his first visit to Somalia. (US Embassy, Somalia/X)
"I think it is in our interests to have some level of engagement in that region. Whether that is with the Federal Government or the member states, I think that is something I would have to assess if confirmed," he remarked.
Military leaders in the region will be keen to see what that change, if implemented, will look like.
"The decision to travel to East Africa, as anticipated, for General Anderson's initial international tour as the AFRICOM commander underscores the region's geopolitical significance. High-level meetings with national leaders in Somalia and Kenya are expected to advance joint counter-terrorism and capacity building efforts to bolster security cooperation," said Brigadier General Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, a senior commander in Somalia's elite Danab forces that spearhead operations against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
The visit comes at a time when counter terrorism operations in the two countries have led to a substantial degradation of Al-Shabaab militia and ISIS-Somalia's capacity.
It also comes at a time when AUSSOM in Somalia is grappling with a funding crisis that has led to a delay in required troop deployment following the withdrawal of the previous mission's troops.
Last month, Kenya's Chief of Defence Forces, General Charles Kahariri, raised the country's concern over the issue, citing the need to permanently seal the gaps occasioned by the recent withdrawal of troops from the country.
"He expressed concern over the recent drawdown of troops under AUSSOM, warning that it could undermine years of progress. He urged the global community to renew and strengthen its commitment to the Somali peace process and broader Horn of Africa stability efforts," a dispatch from KDF stated at the time.
General Dagvin Anderson (left) with Ambassador Cynthia Kierscht, Djibouti Defence Minister Hassan Omar Mohamed and Chief of Staff General Zakaria Cheik Ibrahim. (US Embassy, Djibouti/X)
Though like a few other states, Kenya has entered into an agreement with Mogadishu to provide troops on a bilateral basis, the CDF warned that such measures "are unsustainable without enhanced international backing".
AFRICOM supports African-led security solutions, enhances readiness, and builds partner capacity across the continent to counter shared threats and promote regional stability.
This year alone, it has conducted 73 strikes against Al-Shabaab militia and members of the Islamic State across the Golis mountains region, according to New America, a think tank that tracks the airstrikes using AFRICOM's data.
On August 23, the command announced the end of a two-week intense operation conducted in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, targeting ISIS leadership's safe havens in the Golis Mountains, in the Puntland region.
"I congratulate our military and civilian teammates, as well as our partners in Somalia, who worked on every aspect of this complex evolution. They set the standard for executing a well-planned, Cross-Combatant Command operation against an organisation that wishes to export its terror to the US and our allies," said Gen Anderson.
Operations against Al-Shabaab are, however, continuing with the latest ones occurring on Saturday last week, targeting the militants in the Jubaland and Shebelle regions of Somalia.
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