DHAKA: The United States has sent a handful of military advisers to Somalia in recent months to help bolster an African Union force fighting Islamist militants there.

Officials said on Friday, The Times of India publishes this report on Saturday.

The deployment marks the first stationing of US troops in the troubled country since 1993, when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans were killed in a disastrous operation.

‘The US has established a military coordination cell in Somalia to provide planning and advisory support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces to increase their capabilities and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region,’ US Africa Command spokesman Colonel Tom Davis said in a statement.

The small team, which was launched in October and became fully operational last month, numbers ‘fewer than five’ troops, a defence official told media on condition of anonymity.

BDST: 2045 HRS, JAN 11, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor