By Jaime Ortega.
The United States for the first time since 1993, has deployed military personnel in Somalia, to help coordinate the operations of local authorities against the Islamist militia Al- Shabab .
The Washington Post cited, several U.S. Pentagon officials as sources , and a small team of U.S. military advisers are in Mogadishu , the Somali capital.
This is the first time that Washington decides to put U.S. troops on Somali soil since the failed operation “Black Hawk Down” in 1993 in which two helicopters were shot down and 18 soldiers were killed.
U.S. intelligence services regard the Islamist militia Al- Shabab linked to al Qaeda , that is responsible for numerous attacks in the country.
Also, Al- Shabab could be behind the attack in a shopping mall in Nairobi (Kenya ) last year, in which more than fifty people were brutally killed.
In recent years , the U.S. has carried out some operations in Somalia, but directed from the nearby U.S. base in Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa.
Since 2007 , Washington has devoted substantial resources to equip and train a force of African Union militia , mostly composed of soldiers from Uganda and Burundi, to ensure order and strengthen the new local government .
Last year , the U.S. government officially recognized the new federal government of Somalia, and thus re-established diplomatic relations , suspended since 1991. In this regard, the State Department announced its intention to reopen the embassy in Mogadishu , but has not yet given a date for it.
