Until last year, the 600-strong Puntland Security Force had reported directly to U.S. forces and was largely independent of Somali government control. The CIA began building up the Puntland force in 2002, amid concerns that al Qaeda elements were operating in East Africa. The U.S. alliance with the unit that became the Puntland Security Force began shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. At first, CIA agents paid and trained the fighters—“two Americans and a bag of cash,” in the words of one Puntland Security Force veteran. U.S. commanders considered the Puntland Security Force one of its most reliable and effective allies in a chaotic country riven along clan, political, regional and ideological fissures.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 12, 2021 06:20 UTC