With the attack on Camp Simba, the U.S. base in Manda Bay, Kenya, you may have questions about what the U.S. has been doing in Kenya -- and Africa more generally (thread)
Camp Simba (Manda Bay) is just one of 34 bases (mostly clustered in the north and west as well as the Horn of Africa) that have recently been used by U.S. troops conducting missions across the Africa continent theintercept.com/2018/12/01/u-s…
Camp Simba (Manda Bay) is actually one of at least four U.S. bases in Kenya that have been used in recent years news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u… 
Camp Simba has been in use for a long time theintercept.com/drone-papers/t…
U.S. forces saw combat in at least 13 African countries -- including Kenya-- between 2013 and 2017, according to retired Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc, who served at U.S. Africa Command from 2013-2015 and headed Special Operations Command Africa until 2017 news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u…
People might also not realize just how many military efforts the U.S. has been running in Africa of late. Last year, @SeanDNaylor and I tallied 36 operations and activities that were (or were until recently) ongoing in Africa news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u…
Eight of 36 the named activities are so-called 127e ("127-echo") programs, named for the budgetary authority that allows U.S. special operations forces to use certain host-nation military units as surrogates in counter-terrorism missions.
Used extensively across Africa, 127e programs can be run either by Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the secretive organization that controls the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, the Army’s Delta Force and other special mission units, or by “theater special operations forces.”
One of these 127e programs, codenamed KODIAK HUNTER involved a Kenyan unit that's trained and equipped by US SOF to conduct counterterrorism missions in Somalia. Can you guess one of the key bases for this program? That's right: Manda Bay, Kenya news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u…
The U.S. base at Manda Bay, Kenya is also a key facility for OCTAVE SHIELD: an Africa Command psychological operation focused on Somalia, carried out under the aegis of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, based at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti. news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u…
Camp Simba (Manda Bay, Kenya) is also integral to JUPITER GARRET, a JSOC operation aimed at high-value targets in Somalia. Jupiter Garret first came to light in a 2012 article by @CraigMWhitlock. It was ongoing as of February 2018 washingtonpost.com/world/national…
@CraigMWhitlock In addition to Manda Bay, Kenya, the U.S. has also utilized outposts in Mombasa and Lakipia as well as a Kenyan airfield at Wajir that was upgraded and expanded by the U.S. Navy in the 2010s theintercept.com/2018/12/01/u-s…
@CraigMWhitlock The U.S. "strategic posture" in Kenya and elsewhere on the continent in 2015 from @theintercept theintercept.com/2018/12/01/u-s…
And the "strategic posture" -- in Kenya and beyond in 2018 (also @theintercept) theintercept.com/2018/12/01/u-s…
And a slightly easier to read version of the same map of U.S. outposts in Africa from @YahooNews news.yahoo.com/revealed-the-u…
@YahooNews According to @USAfricaCommand: "During an attack by al-Shabaab... one (1) U.S. service member and two (2) Department of Defense contractors were killed... in Manda Bay, Kenya." Two "Department of Defense members" were also wounded in the attack. africom.mil/media-room/pre…
@YahooNews @USAfricaCommand AFRICOM went on to say: "The attack... involved indirect and small arms fire. After an initial penetration of the perimeter, Kenya Defense Forces and U.S. Africa Command repelled the al-Shabaab attack. Reports indicate that six contractor-operated civilian aircraft were damaged"
