News From Antiwar.com Original and up-to-date news AFRICOM Commander Says US Troops Have Been ‘Commuting’ to Somalia Since Withdrawal Gen. Stephen Townsend told Congress there is a 'small footprint' of 100 US troops in Somalia Gen. Stephen Townsend, the head of US Africa Command, complained to Congress on Thursday about the Trump administration’s withdrawal of about 700 US troops from Somalia that were repositioned in the region. “There’s no denying that the repositioning of forces out of Somalia has introduced new layers of complexity and risk,” Townsend told the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said the US maintains a “small footprint” of about 100 troops in Mogadishu and that other US forces have been “commuting” to Somalia.