The US Defence Department is considering closing military outposts in Kenya and three other African countries while also halving the number of its special operations forces on the continent, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The Times account does not specify which facilities in Kenya could be affected by the proposed moves, which must be approved by Defence Secretary Jim Mattis before taking effect.

The US is known to have maintained a military presence at Manda Bay, sometimes referred to as Camp Simba, for about the past dozen years.

US troops have also been reported to operate from an installation in Isiolo.

US forces inside Kenya are believed to contribute to anti-insurgency missions in Somalia.

The sizeable US military contingent in Somalia itself, doubled last year to include about 500 personnel, would remain intact under the plans being mulled by Defence Department officials, the Times said.

Strategy shift

If the envisioned cutbacks in Africa are carried out, the Pentagon would be left with “a lasting, robust military presence in Somalia and Nigeria,” the newspaper reported.

The potential reductions of US troops in Africa reflect a planned shift in strategy whereby the Defence Department focuses its resources more on perceived threats from China and Russia.

The plan to close facilities in Africa and to remove half of the 1200 US special forces now on the continent also results from a political outcry following the killing of four US soldiers by Islamist militants in Niger last year.

A fifth US serviceman was killed in Somalia earlier this year.

Most of the estimated 6000 US military personnel assigned to roles in Africa would apparently not be affected by the possible withdrawals.

There is also no suggestion of a significant downsizing of the US base in Djibouti where some 3000 US troops support operations in Somalia and other parts of the Horn.

Opposition to the proposed scale-down is being voiced from within the Defence Department.

The Times cites unnamed US officials as warning that the troop cuts could erode gains made against Islamist forces in Africa.

The pullback would also damage Washington’s military alliances with various African countries even as China and Russia both seek to increase their influence, the sources told the Times.

Competent African troops

“With the reassignment of the counterterrorism teams, American troops could also lose the ability to partner with local forces who act as surrogates to help track and hunt down insurgents,” the report adds.

“It could also strip those local forces of some of the more advanced American gear they are given when teamed up with American troops.”

One of the newspaper’s sources in the US government suggested, however, that African troops have become increasingly competent in fighting insurgents and now require less support from US personnel.

Commandos could be returned to assist missions in Africa if the need arises, this source noted.

The possibility of partial US military withdrawals from Africa was first reported a few months ago.

Gen Thomas Waldhauser, head of the US Africa Command, said in response in July that “we won’t walk away and abandon this.”

The Times story on Sunday, however, reports that the proposed reductions are steeper than had earlier been expected.

They would be carried out over the next 18 to 36 months.

But “one Defence Department official said the timeline was likely to be accelerated once the proposal was approved and final,” the Times noted.