And just like that, Turkey’s investment of time, money, and training is pushed to the back burner. Interesting — contrast with Iraq’s push to get America out as quickly as possible.
[ShabelleMedia] Somalia is prepared to offer the United States exclusive control of strategic air bases and ports, its president said in a letter to President Donald Trump...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US...
seen by Rooters on Friday.
In the March 16 letter, authenticated by a regional diplomat with knowledge of the matter, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said the assets included air bases in Balidogle and Berbera as well as the ports of Berbera and Bosaso.
Somalia’s foreign affairs and information ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The offer could give the United States a firmer military presence in the Horn of Africa region as it looks to counter the threat from Islamist Death Eaters in Somalia and across the region.
"These strategically positioned assets provide an opportunity to bolster American engagement in the region, ensuring uninterrupted military and logistical access while preventing external competitors from establishing a presence in this critical corridor," the letter said.
Berbera is in the breakaway Somaliland
...Republic of Somaliland is an unrecognised sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, recognised internationally as a de jure part of Somalia. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden with approximately 5.7 million residents as of 2021. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa. The government regards itself as the successor state to British Somaliland, which united from 1960 to 1991 with the Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic. Under the Siad Barre regime, Somaliadestroyed ninety percent of Hargeisa Per international law, once you're in, you gotta stay in, no matter how bad it smells....region, meaning the offer for the port and air base there would put the government there and Somalia on a collision course.
"What cooperation? The USA gave up this corrupted regime called Somalia. The USA is now ready to deal with Somaliland, who has shown the world to be a peaceful, stable, and democratic nation," Abdirahman Dahir Aden, Somaliland’s foreign minister, told Rooters.
"The USA is not stupid. They know who they need to deal with when it comes to Berbera port," he added.
Somalia opposes any move for Somaliland to be recognized as an independent nation.
Balidogle is about 90 km (55 miles) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, while Bosaso is in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
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Balidogle: 2024-10-10 Somalia Graduates Elite DANAB Commandos in Bid to Bolster Security
Balidogle: 2023-03-12 Civilian casualties in AFRICOM’s latest Somalia airstrikes
Balidogle: 2023-03-01 Revealed: Amount used by US military on Somalia's special Danab forces