Mohammed Omer Mulla

When I worked in Somalia from 2016 to 2018 supporting provision of military assistance to forces combating al-Shabaab, most discussions with international partners acknowledged that our efforts could not ultimately defeat the jihadist group. As part of the plan for transitioning security responsibilities, the job of defeating al-Shabaab fell to the fledgling Somali government, although we never clearly defined how the government would achieve that end. As we completed planning for the security transition, al-Shabaab conducted  more attacks in 2018  than the previous year – even after confronting an international coalition for over a decade. This basic fact should cause concern in spite of the dramatic  increase in U.S. drone strikes  and tentative signals of reform from Somalia’s federal government. Even after punishing strikes, al-Shabaab has been able to execute major operations  in Kenya  and  Mogadishu  in recent months. The eventual  departure of the African Unio