Special Report

The US Is Engaged in a Secret Military Operation in Kenya

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: February 26, 2023 6:42 am

Last Updated: February 28, 2023 12:14 pm

Not surprising, the U.S. military sometimes runs secret operations, engaging and attacking enemies in places and ways the American public is unaware of. Many of these are often security cooperation programs authorized under two provisions, and these programs on occasion draw U.S. forces into unauthorized hostilities, according to one report. One such less publicized mission is the U.S.’s military operation in Kenya. (Here are countries buying the most weapons from the U.S. government.)

The military’s Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Kenya, is home to a U.S. special forces military contingent known as the Task Force Red Dragon. The task force’s mission in the country is to partner with Kenyan forces to suppress the threat from the al-Shabaab terrorist group, according to a 2022 Brennan Center for Justice report, “Secret War: How the U.S. Uses Partnerships and Proxy Forces to Wage War Under the Radar.” 

Through multiple additional operations in the country, including Jupiter Garret, Justified Seamount, Kodiak Hunter, and Oblique Pillar, American troops are coordinating with Kenyan forces to combat piracy and conduct counterterrorism missions in neighboring Somalia. (Also see, the oldest U.S. military bases outside the country.)

Al-Shabaab, an insurgent group seeking to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, has destabilized the Horn of Africa since its formation in the early 2000s. The group was responsible for a 2015 bombing at a university in Kenya that left over 148 dead and a 2017 bombing in the Somali capital Mogadishu that left an estimated 600 dead. More recently, in 2020, al-Shabaab carried out an attack on an airfield at Camp Simba that left an Army Specialist and two civilian contractors dead. 

See 24/7 Wall St.’s full story: The U.S. government is involved in secret wars in 15 countries.