U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend (pictured) is set to take over the helm of AFRICOM, a critical unit in restoring stability in troubled African countries, specifically Somalia, where the US forces in collaboration with the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) are battling to contain Al-Shabaab militants © FILE /US ARMY – David Vergun
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 24 – The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is Friday set for a change of guard as a long-serving member of the U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser retires from military service.
Gen. Waldhauser is set to retire after a distinguished 43-year career, his assignment at the AFRICOM based in Stuttgart, Germany spanning four years.
U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend is set to take over the helm of AFRICOM, a critical unit in restoring stability in troubled African countries, specifically Somalia, where the US forces in collaboration with the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) are battling to contain Al-Shabaab militants.
“A career infantry officer, he (Gen. Waldhauser) has commanded at multiple levels, to include tours as the Battalion Landing Team Commander, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; Commander, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Command); Commanding General, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory; Commanding General, 1st Marine Division; Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force; and Commanding General, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command,” reads a statement released by AFRICOM on Tuesday.
The new newly appointed AFRICOM commander, Townsend, previously served as the Commanding General of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
He has led and commanded troops at every echelon from platoon to corps and combined joint task force, to include leading all U.S. and multi-national forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as the Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Africa Command is one of the six U.S. Department of Defense geographic combatant commands.
The command is responsible for all U.S. military operations, exercises, security cooperation, and conducts crisis response on the African continent “in order to advance U.S. interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.”
Gen. Waldhauser (pictured) is set to retire after a distinguished 43-year career, his assignment at the AFRICOM based in Stuttgart, Germany spanning four years/FILE -AFRICOM
-Somalia during Gen. Waldhauser’s tenure-
Since 2017, the US Forces in Somalia have launched tens of airstrikes that killed hundreds of terrorists.
In 2017, they launched 35 airstrikes and more than 40 in 2018.
In January, one of the airstrikes killed more than 50 terrorists according to AFRICOM.
The US Forces have however been on the spot over alleged civilian deaths that have been linked to the airstrikes.
In March, Amnesty International released a damning report revealing how 14 civilians were killed in five airstrikes between 2017 and 2018 but AFRICOM refuted the claims.
In 2011, the USA launched its first drone strike in Somalia against Al-Shabaab, which controls large swathes of south-central Somalia, including of the Lower Shabelle region which surrounds the capital, Mogadishu.
“While Al-Shabaab controls the areas of Lower Shabelle where the attacks in this report took place, and members of Al-Shabaab were present in relatively large numbers in parts of Lower Shabelle that were attacked, in some cases the rural areas and villages attacked had no evident Al-Shabaab presence at the time of the attack,” reads a section of the report by Amnesty International.
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