Confirmed: Secret US Bases in Somalia, US Boots on the Ground

The United States has a reported military presence in at least 150 countries. Indeed, it could be said that the sun never sets on the American empire.

Some outposts of that empire are supposed to be kept secret, however, as they are operating in countries placed off limits by treaty or by U.S. law. Somalia is such a place, but that hasn’t stopped the U.S. Defense Department from setting up bases and deploying troops in that country.

In an exclusive report, Foreign Policy exposed an expansing military presence in the war-torn east African nation — a presence that is paying dividends to those that have to sign off on the operations.

“But the shadowy U.S. presence in this strategic port city [Kismayo] in war-torn southern Somalia has clear consequences for anyone with a share of power here. That includes Somali regional officials who are quick to praise American counterterrorism efforts, African Union forces who rely on U.S. intelligence as they battle back al-Shabab, and even the al Qaeda-linked militants themselves, who are increasingly hemmed in by a lethal combination of AU-led counterinsurgency, airstrikes, and raids by U.S. special operators,” the July 2 article claims . . .

Based out of a fortress of fading green Hesco barriers at the ramshackle airport in Kismayo, a team of special operators from the Joint Special Operations Command, the elite U.S. military organization famous for killing Osama bin Laden, flies drones and carries out other counterterrorism activities, multiple Somali government and African Union sources have confirmed.

(Read more from “Confirmed: Secret US Bases in Somalia, US Boots on the Ground” HERE)

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