The United States is renewing diplomatic ties with Somalia for the first time in 23 years. The State Department says improving security conditions will lead to the appointment of a U.S. ambassador and the reopening of the U.S. mission in Mogadishu. Announcing the move, State Department spokesperson Wendy Sherman said the United States will also continue to launch military strikes in Somalia as it sees fit.

Wendy Sherman: “As a reflection both of our deepening relationship with the country and of our faith that better times are ahead, the president will propose the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in more than two decades. We indeed look forward to the day when both nations have full-fledged diplomatic missions in the capital of the other. … From time to time, the U.S. military has conducted such action in Somalia against a limited number of targets who, based on information about their current and historical activities, have been determined to be part of al-Qaeda. And in the future, we may take action against threats that pose a continuing imminent threat to U.S. persons.”

Although diplomatic ties have been frozen, the U.S. has maintained a military and intelligence contingent inside Somalia for years, running a CIA base and launching drone strikes.