U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry makes first visit to Somalia

Yes he is the first U.S. Secretary of State to have visited Somalia.John Kerry today made a surprise visit to Mogadishu for talks with Somalia’s president.Wall Street Journal reports that ,

"Mr. Kerry’s visit underscored the importance of security issues in East Africa to the U.S. Drone strikes by the U.S. have killed top leaders of the al-Shabaab militant group, and the U.S. is a major funder of the African Union troops battling al-Shabaab on the ground.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Mr. Kerry’s aim was to “reinforce the United States’ commitment to supporting Somalia’s ongoing transition to a peaceful democracy.” She said he was discussing security cooperation and was also meeting with other Somali officials and civil society leaders. The Associated Press said the Somali government was informed of the visit a day ago and that Mr. Kerry wasn’t expected to venture outside of the airport complex—which is essentially a fortified United Nations’ base."