Biden signs order to return hundreds of US troops to Somalia

US military . File photoWASHINGTON, May 16U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order allowing the Pentagon to return hundreds of special operations forces to Somalia to counter the local terrorist group Al-Shabaab, the New York Times reported. East Africa Mission , which involved 700 US commandos, was all but phased out by Biden's predecessor Donald Trump. Biden, according to the publication, also approved the Pentagon's request to allow strikes against a «dozen» suspected leaders of Al-Shabaab, a Somali group that, according to US estimates, has up to 10,000 militants in its ranks and positions itself as an offshoot of the al-Qaeda terrorist network*.* A terrorist organization banned in Russia Media: Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud sworn in as President of Somalia