U.S. says its presence vital for Red Sea stability

(12 Dec 2019) LEAD IN:

The presence of the U.S. in the Red Sea is vital for the security of the region, the United States Africa Command says.

With conflict taking place on either side of the waterway, American and Emirati officials are discussing stability and freedom of navigation in the water of the Gulf of Aden.



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The U.S. Africa Command says its presence in the Red Sea is vital for maintaining security of the region and stability of international trade.

"We see the Horn of Africa and the freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and Suez Canal critical to maintaining stability in the region," says Brigadier General Miguel Castellanos, deputy director of operations at U.S. AFRICOM.

"It is imperative for the U.S. to maintain a viable presence while diversifying strategic access to the Red Sea," he adds.  

Officials from the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates were discussing security in the Horn of Africa at a forum held in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.  

The U.S. has this year launched more drone strikes in Somalia than any other year, according to the think tank, New America.  

New America says since President Donald Trump took office, he has escalated the counterterrorism war in Somalia.   

"By mid-2019, the United States surpassed the number of strikes by drones and Special Operations raids of any previous year, and had also conducted double the number of strikes that it had through August 2018," the think tank says.

Castellanos maintains the importance of these strikes, adding that they are carried out in coordination with the federal government of Somalia.

"We see these as very helpful in regards to allowing and enabling the federal government to provide the capability for its own forces to develop," he says.  

After three decades of civil war, extremist attacks and famine, Somalia established a functioning transitional government in 2012 and has been working to rebuild stability.

A United Nations expert report released last month says al-Shabab extremist group remains a potent regional threat and now makes its own explosives.

The UAE's minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash says his country has played "a leading role undermining the threat of al-Shabab terror organisation".

"The central role played by us in combating al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the South of Yemen, liberating Aden and many southern provinces as part of the Arab coalition, should not be solely seen as counterterrorism efforts targeting AQAP, these efforts are also integral to targeting and eradicating AQAP supply lines to al-Shabab in Somalia," he adds.

The UAE is also present in the Gulf of Aden through the Yemeni conflict, in which it is fighting alongside Saudi Arabia against the Houthis to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

But its troop presence on Yemen's remote island of Socotra in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia is triggering local resentment.

Last month, hundreds protested in Socotra, demanding the United Arab Emirates withdraw from the island.



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