The U.S. military is fighting a shadow war with Al Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-aligned Islamist group that still controls large swathes of Somalia.
Over the last eleven years, the once makeshift military base at the end of the runway at the Mogadishu airport has turned into a bustling mini town. Sandwiched between concrete barriers and a jagged coastline, the base hosts scores of recently returned diplomats, aid workers, and United Nations staff members, along with thousands of African Union peacekeepers.
When I visited the compound in 2010, I received a jerry can of water to wash with and a cot. Now, international-security companies run hotels that serve fresh lobster and chilled white wine. Diplomats jog along the beach that lines the camp, but in a sign of lingering safety concerns, they rarely venture into Mogadishu city itself.
In Mogadishu’s markets, parks, and beaches there is a sense of security not known here for decades, and the government of Somalia largely credits the United States and the African Union with providing it.
The Trump Administration has increased American military involvement in Somalia to levels not seen since eighteen American soldiers were killed by clan militias in the 1993 clashes depicted in the film “Black Hawk Down.” The number of American troops on the ground doubled last year, to over five hundred, and air strikes increased to thirty-four in 2017, double the number that took place in 2016.