The US Reopens Embassy In Somalia After 28 Years

The United States (US) has announced its reopening of a new embassy in Somalia, almost 30 years after the old one was closed on January 5^th, 1991.

The country (Somalia) had plunged into civil war, forcing the US to close the embassy and airlift the ambassador to safety. Since then the US had been extending its diplomatic functions to Somalia from Kenya until 2018 December.

The US, through the US Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto, said that the reopening of the embassy is a new dawn and such a historic moment that reflects the positive steps Somalia has taken in recent years since civil war broke out in the country.

“The reopening of the embassy is significant and historic as it is another step forward in regularizing US diplomatic engagement n=in Mogadishu since the establishment of the federal government in 2013,” he said.

“The embassy will strive to enhance cooperation, advance US’s national strategic interests, promote security, economic and political developments of the country,” he added.

The embassy reopening announcement came just in time as Somalia was concluding a meeting with international development agencies, where one US agency had announced that it would channel close to 257 million dollars towards humanitarian assistance in Somalia.

The US had generally been Somalia’s biggest donor and supporter in terms of helping in the fight against Islam Jihadists Al-Shabaab who had thrown the country into unrest.

Last year, according to US’s news agency, Somalia received about 730 million dollars, making the total amount received by Somalia for humanitarian assistance from US agencies just slightly under half a billion dollars this year.

In matters of security, the US is said to be determined to ensure security in Somalia is paramount and has never loosened its belt in the fight against Al-Shabaab.

While the Al-Shabaab militia was forced out of Somalia’s capital on August 2011, they still have a strong presence in regions around the capital and unfortunately even attacked a military base in Mogadishu where US troops train Somali commandos on Monday, 30^TH September 2019, as the Somalia Partnership Forum was going on.

During the meeting, between Somalia officials and international representatives, Qatar also announced that it would continue its support for Somalia, by implementing 200 million dollars to support Somalia’s infrastructure and modernizing Somalia’s military.

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