TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - U.S. President Barack Obama will announce the first American Ambassador to Somalia since the civil war erupted more than 20 years ago.

"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," Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, said on Tuesday, June 3, 2014, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Sherman said that Obama will directly announce the ambassador who will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. As reported by Al Jazeera, Although the U.S. never formally ended its relationship with Somalia, the embassy in Mogadishu was closed in 1991 due to bloody chaos and power struggle among clan chiefs.

The darkest moment of the two countries' relationship was in 1993 when the bodies of U.S. soldiers were dragged along the streets of Mogadishu by a mob after Mohamed Farah Aideed’s loyalists shot down two Black Hawk helicopters. Thousands of Somalis and 18 American soldiers were killed in the battle between the fighters and U.S. soldiers.

The government of Somalia took control of the country in August 2012 and became the first to be given global recognition since the regime of dictator Siad Barre fell in 1991. The U.S. recognized the new government in January 2013.

AL JAZEERA | ROSALINA