US Committed to Building Somalia’s Defense Capacity – AFRICOM Commander

General Stephen Townsend, AFRICOM commander, has reinforced the commitment by the United States to bolster security in Somali. He also said the country is committed to building the country’s defense capabilities.

On Tuesday, Gen. Townsend released the statement following his recent visit to Somalia. In the statement that the U.S. Embassy released, the head of the African Command requested coordinated engagement among all international partners in fighting terrorism in Somalia.

“We are committed to helping our partners in Somalia to improve the security of the country by developing their defense institutions, which we consider a top priority,” Gen. Townsend said. He continued, “Security would be impossible to achieve without a combination of coordinated support and the continued efforts of the international community in ensuring that it works.”

The U.S. general noted that African partners are exposed to numerous threats from terrorist networks in the region and beyond. He mentioned that the threats are also aimed at U.S. interests around the region. The U.S. homeland isn’t any safer, he reiterated. Therefore, he called for continued vigilance and cooperation between all concerned parties to ensure that Somali and the surrounding region remain safe.

The U.S. military commander warned terror groups in Africa that the U.S. government and its partners around the region would pursue them to the end.

“Terrorists must know that we will never stop pursuing them relentlessly until we disrupt and degrade them today while preventing them from spreading their tentacles tomorrow,” Gen. Townsend elaborated.

While on his tour of Mogadishu, Gen. Townsend also took time to meet with the country’s leader, President Mohamed Farmaajo and top leaders in Somalia. High-ranking leaders from the U.S. military were also in the meeting.

Based on the statement, the visit presented all the parties with a chance to meet and evaluate the progress they have made in the campaign against the region’s terror groups.